


(Our) Lives Were Buried Under That Rubble

by ShyAudacity



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Breaking Up & Making Up, Canon Compliant, Choni is only mentioned, F/M, For the most part, Good Parent Fred Andrews, Hurt Archie Andrews, Hurt/Comfort, Lawyers, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Season/Series 02, Prison, Rewrite, Sort Of, Suicide Attempt, Trials, Worried Veronica, idk - Freeform, unrealistic depictions of court
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-05-20 15:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14897513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: “Hey, uh, would you mind checking in on my Dad for me? Just make sure that he’s eating right and that he’s okay?”“Yeah, of course, Archie. He believes you, right? That you didn’t do this?”He grimaces a little, “He wants to, but- after everything I’ve done this- the shit I made him deal with these last few months… I don’t know, I think he’s just not sure what to do with me.”Veronica nods and drops her gaze to the table; Archie knows how guilty she feels about all of this, like it’s her fault somehow. He wants to tell her that she’s isn’t responsible in any way, but a part of him already knows that she isn’t going to believe that until the day he steps out of the gate, until he’s released for good.ORI'm rewriting s3 before it happens, or at least trying to. Mostly Canon Compliant.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I tried uploading this once before but then took it down so I could make some very much needed edits. Please tell me if you think I should add any tags, and I hope you guys enjoy the fic!
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from "When God Happens" by Mike Rosen.

“Miss Cooper?” Mr. Weatherbee calls down the hallway.

Betty stops from where she’s walking with Jughead to face him. Someone who can’t be much older than herself is standing next to him in ripped up jeans and a dark jacket, hands stuffed in their pockets.

“Mr. Weatherbee?”

“This is our new student, I was hoping that you’d be able to give a tour to-.”

“Sailor, Sumner.” They interrupt before he can finish. “And as much as I appreciate it, I’m used to being the new kid so I think I’ll find my own way around, thanks anyways.”

Sailor stalks off without another word, and Betty and Jughead just look weirdly at each other as Weatherbee walks away.

“I guess that’s the end of the tour.” He jokes.

Betty laughs a little, then sticks her hand out, squeezing Jughead’s arm.  

“Hey, uh, don’t forget, we need to talk later about some stuff.”

Jughead quirks a brow at her, “Stuff?”

“It’s nothing bad, I promise. It’s just- that Serpent conversation that we’ve been putting off for the last two weeks.”

“Ah, that stuff,” Jughead replies. “And to think that I was starting to forget about it.”   

Betty sighs a little; the last two weeks have been such a mess, Betty and Jughead haven’t really had a chance, or the time, to talk about any of it. Surprisingly, Jughead having asked her to be his Serpent Queen has been the least stressful thing that she’s had to think about.

The bell rings overhead and all of the students nearby start to scatter off to their respective classrooms; Betty squeezes Jughead’s arm again.

“I should go, but I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” 

“Sure,” Jughead says with a small smile, giving her a quick peck.

Her morning classes go by in a rush. The end of the year is approaching quickly and it feels like there’s not enough time for anything- not when people are still talking about Hal Cooper being the Black Hood.

Betty wishes more than anything that people would stop talking about it, that this nightmare would just be over with already. It’s bad enough that all her home issues have followed her to school, it’s like no place is safe for her to take a second to herself and just _breathe_.

Polly had left town with the twins not even two days after their Dad was put away, said that she wanted to get her life back to normal- whatever that means. Betty isn’t even sure that she knows what normal feels like anymore.  

It’s just Betty and her Mom at the house, she was really hoping that it would never be so empty again, or so quiet. The house seems to echo and creak more than it used to before, especially in the middle of the night when she’s trying to sleep- not that Betty has been doing much of that. Every time that she closes her eyes and tries to relax she sees her father’s face, imagines all the things that he said he would do to her mother, to her. It’s hard to feel comfortable in a place where she spent so much time with the guy who later ruined her family.

Betty walks into the lunch room and Veronica and Jughead are already there, sitting at their usual table, seemingly bickering about something.

“What are you guys talking about?”

“Apparently, Jughead’s dad doesn’t want to run the speakeasy like I offered,” Veronica states. “Says that he’s done working for any and all Lodge’s.”

“I don’t blame him,” Jughead spits. “Seeing as your dad paid a punch of rogue gang members to nearly kill me.”

Betty cuts Veronica off before she can say anything else.

“Can we please table this conversation for a later time? _Please?_ ”

Veronica throws her hands up in defense, looking away while Jughead drops his gaze.

“Sorry.” He mutters.

Betty changes the subject. “V, are you still coming over after school?”

“No, actually, I’m going to-.”

“Hey, Betty, isn’t that the kid you were supposed to give a tour to earlier?”

Betty turns around in her seat just in time to watch the new kid unknowingly sit down amongst the Serpents.

“Oh no.” She groans, already moving to get up. She arrives just as Sweet Pea has decided to open his mouth.

“What are you doing?” He sneers.

Sailor raises an eyebrow at him, “Isn’t it obvious? I’m performing open heart surgery- what the hell does it look like I’m doing? I’m sitting.”

Sweet Pea rolls his eyes. “You can’t sit here.”

“What is this Mean Girls? Wait- let me guess, it’s because I’m not wearing enough leather, isn’t it?”

Betty cuts off Sweet Pea’s retort.

“Hey! Sailor, right? Why don’t you come sit with my friends and I, yeah?”

Whether it’s the not so subtle look in her eye or the way that Sweet Pea has begun to clench and unclench his fist, Sailor gets up and follows Betty over to the table.

“What’s his deal? Is there some rule about social circles sitting together?”

“No,” Betty mutters. “More like the aftermath of an inner city civil war- guys, this is Sailor. Sailor, this is Veronica and Jughead.”

“Hey,” Jughead says. “Welcome to the social pariah table.”

“Jughead?” Sailor says slowly, laughing a little. “Now that’s a name that I’d love to hear the story behind.” 

“Stick around and I just might tell you. This morning you said that you’re used to being the new kid, care to elaborate?”

“Navy brat- well, a former one, I guess. My Mom is retiring soon and her and my step-dad wanted someplace quiet that they could settle down.”

Jughead nearly laughs, “Well, you sure missed the boat on that one.”

Sailor pulls a confused face, and Betty kicks him lightly under the table before changing the subject

“Speaking of mother’s, Veronica, do you know if Archie’s mom is going to be able to represent him in the trial?”

“Fred said that she’s wrapped up in some other case right now. Besides, he thinks a judge would say that she’s too close to the case, whatever that means.”

Jughead scoffs, “I don’t even know why they're even having a trial, everyone knows that he’s innocent.”

“Wait, what-.” Sailor tries.

“It’s not that simple, Jughead. No one else was there. We don’t know all the details.”

“We’re also talking about Archie here, remember? This is the guy who still gets squeamish when he has to kill a spider- god forbid that he found it in himself to kill somebody else over some stupid necklace.”

“Hold up-.”

“It’s my Dad’s word against his, you of all people should understand that.”

“Yeah, and _whose side are you even on?”_

Sailor smacks their hands onto the table, _“Hey!”_

Everyone jumps and goes silent and looks at over at them; Sailor continues. 

“Sorry to interrupt your little family feud, but who the hell is this Archie person and what did _or didn’t_ he do?”

***

The Riverdale Juvenile Delinquent Center is exactly as bland and cumbersome as it sounds. Beige colored stone walls and dozens of teenagers walking around in grey jumpsuits with mostly blank faces, just waiting for the day that they’re released.

Archie Andrews is here, waiting to go to trial at the end of the month after being accused of murder. From the moment he arrived, Archie stuck out like a sore thumb, looking like a winning show pony amongst a bunch of wild horses.

Despite being grouped with other boys around his age, none of them want anything to do with him. He doesn’t miss the way that other guys around here whisper about him; talk about the semi scrawny red-haired kid who killed a dude. Some of the big guys look at Archie like they can’t believe what they’ve heard. So, he keeps his head down, tries to avoid most everyone at all costs.

Archie didn’t think that going to juvie would be this lonely.   

He’s in the back corner doing his school work when Keno, the kid with meaty hands who’s the only one that hasn’t given Archie the death glare yet, plops himself down in front of him and strikes up a conversation. The bench creaks as he sits down.

“Hey there, Jailbait.”

Archie doesn’t even bother looking up, “I’m pretty sure that doesn’t mean what you think it does.”

“Eh, still funny.”

“Yeah, maybe the first six times,” He mutters. “Shouldn’t you be doing class work or something?”

“Nah, there’s no point, it’s not like I’ll graduate at the rate I’m going.”

A voice in his head that sounds mysteriously like Betty’s says _Not with that attitude you’re not_. It makes something in him ache, makes him wish that he was at home with his friends right now. Much to his relief, one of the guards walks over and says that he’s got a visitor. Archie can’t stand up fast enough.

Veronica is already sitting at one of the tables when he gets there, she beams when her eyes land on him; all he wants to do is run over and hug her. Archie gets about two feet from her before they’re reminded of the no touching rule, his hands hang mid-air for a moment before finally sitting down.

“I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” Veronica says. “Have you heard anything about the trial?”

“It’s scheduled for two weeks from tomorrow.”

She huffs, “This is so messed up. You shouldn’t even be here right now, you should be at school with all of us, at home with your dad.”

Archie doesn’t know how to respond to that, so he gestures over her shoulder to where Hermione is standing in the corner, awkward as ever.

“How are things? With your mom, I mean.”

“We’re on a strict only talking when necessary basis. She only brought me here to avoid the argument that would’ve ensued if she hadn’t.”

“You can’t stay mad at her forever, Ronnie. It’s not like she knew that your dad was gonna do this.”

“Either way, I’m not going near either of them with a ten-foot pole at any time in the near future.”

He nods, understanding her disdain. “What about school? How is everyone else?”

“Jughead is pissed at the world and Betty is trying to keep everything from falling to shambles- so, same as usual.”

Archie laughs a little, knocking his knuckles against the table.

“Hey, uh, would you mind checking in on my Dad for me? Just make sure that he’s eating right and that he’s okay?”

“Yeah, of course, Archie. He believes you, right? That you didn’t do this?”  

He grimaces a little, “He wants to, but- after everything I’ve done this- the shit I made him deal with these last few months… I don’t know, I think he’s just not sure what to do with me.”

Veronica nods and drops her gaze to the table; Archie knows how guilty she feels about all of this, like it’s her fault somehow. He wants to tell her that she’s isn’t responsible in any way, but a part of him already knows that she isn’t going to believe that until the day he steps out of the gate, until he’s released for good.

A few minutes later, the guard says that their time is up, and Archie feels the urge to hug Veronica again, even if it gets him in trouble. She looks back at him as she’s walking away, giving him one of those smiles that he’s grown to cherish and love. The door shuts behind her, and Archie already wishes that she was still here, wishes she could keep talking with him.

It was never easy watching her go, no matter how many times it happened.

***

Betty, Sailor, and Jughead all end up walking home together after they realize that Sailor moved in down the street from Betty and Archie. After a quick stop at Pop’s for some fries and a milkshake, Sailor starts to tell the pair about their life growing up with a mom in the Navy.

“I’ve basically grown up everywhere,” They say. “But Kansas City was by far my favorite of them all, some of the best barbeque that I’ve ever eaten in my life. I’ll probably end up moving back there someday once I get out of college.”

“Sounds like you’ve had a lot of adventures,” Betty replies.

“Yeah, I have. I guess for now I’m just waiting to see what kind of chaos I can get into here.”

Jughead mutters, “There’s plenty of that.”

They shoot him a curious glance, and Betty nudges him in the side.

“He’s kidding… sort of.”

Sailor laughs a little, opens their mouth to say something else when a man pokes his head out of the door two houses down and starts yelling.

“Emily! Get inside! Your mom wants you to have your homework done before she gets home!”

Sailor’s face falls, turning pale; Betty and Jughead share a funny look.

“Did he just call you Emily?” She asks.

They push their short, dirty blonde hair away from their face, makes a sour face.

“Yeah, well- your boyfriend can’t be the only one in town with a stupid nickname, right?”

“Sailor-.”

“Don’t worry about it, just-. I’ll see you around.”

They stalk off before Betty can say anything else, leaving her standing there with her mouth agape.

She turns to face Jughead, having suddenly remembered something.

“Hey, so about that Serpent conversation that we said we were gonna have-.”

“Why are you making a face that says you’re about to give me bad news?”

“What? Wh- no, no it’s not bad… but I’m not sure that you’re gonna like it either.”

Jughead grimaces a little.

“I love that you asked me to be your Serpent Queen, I really do. And I’m not saying no, just- not right now.”

Jughead nods, drops his gaze.

“I mean with everything that’s going on, I just- the time timing just seems kinda out of place, doesn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, but there’s never gonna be a right time for something of this magnitude. There’s not an exact science to this, Betty.”

“I know, Jug, I just – we both have so much on our plates right now and-.”

“Which is exactly why I asked you to do this with me in the first place.”

“I get that, but-.” Betty sighs, frustrated that things escalated. “I know that this is important to you, believe me, I do, but I can’t take on anything else right now, okay? So can we please just have this conversation again at a later day?”

“Sure,” Jughead states, voices barely above a whisper. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is, Jug; I want this to work.”

He nods, “Me too.”

Betty kisses him before he leaves, and she worries that he’s taken offense somehow. Her house is quiet when she finally goes inside; her mom is asleep despite it being four in the afternoon. Alice has been beyond depressed since Hal was arrested, and Betty just hopes that she can pull her out of this funk eventually.

She goes into the kitchen, makes herself a microwave dinner that she eats while trying to do homework. Betty sighs to herself as she stands alone in her kitchen, trying to come to terms with the deafening silence that fills her house, hopes that things don’t get worse before they get better. All she wants right now is something to hang on to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How has your mom been doing with all of this? I know you said that she was taking it kind of hard at the beginning.”
> 
> “Mom hasn’t left the house since Dad was arrested- unless you count the time that she yelled at all the people crowding in front of our yard, but I don’t. I don’t know how to cheer her up, Jug. I’ve tried everything. It’s like she just… gave up.”
> 
> Jughead assures her that she’ll figure something out, even though he isn’t entirely convinced that any of them will make it out of this unscathed.

The next morning, Betty stops by Sailor’s house on her way to school, stops them from shutting the door in her face when they see who it is.

“Wait, just- hear me out, alright?”

Sailor bites their lip, gestures for her to continue.

“I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I just feel like we got off on the wrong foot with all the bickering and trial talk.”

“It’s not your fault,” Sailor says. “I don’t make friends very well, I guess I’m just not a very likable person.”

“Oh, c’mon, that can’t be true.” She insists.  

“You’re just saying that because you don’t know me very well yet.”

“Yeah, _yet_.”

Sailor pauses then lets their face grow into a grin.

“You’re one of those girls that doesn’t know how to stop, aren’t you?”

“Since the day I was born,” Betty replies.

Sailor hums, nods, then reaches back to grab their school bag and walk out the front door. They stop and turn around when they realize that Betty has yet to follow.

“So?” They ask. “Am I walking you to school or not?”

Betty beams, and it’s the best that she’s felt in nearly two weeks.

After arriving at school, the two of them don’t see each other again until lunch rolls around. It is, once again, tense as Veronica and Jughead are still at each other’s necks over the Archie situation, but all of them get through the lunch period without anyone losing an eye, so in a way, it’s a win.

Sailor questions Betty about Veronica on their way to calculus.

“What’s her deal, anyway? Does she have as much of a princess complex as she gives off?”

“She doesn’t, she’s not, just- she’s got a lot going on right now, at home, I mean.”

They raise an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue; Betty sighs, lowering her voice.

“Veronica’s dad is the one who had Archie arrested.”

Sailor stifles a laugh, “Wh- wait, are you being serious?”

She nods, and they fall into a fit of giggles. Betty starts to walk away, and Sailor reaches an arm out to stop her, throwing their hands up in defense.

“Hey, wait. Sorry, I’m sorry, it’s not funny, it’s not, but- c’mon, you can’t honestly tell me that you wouldn’t laugh if this was happening to somebody else. Huh?”

Betty bites her lip, looking away. “No comment.”

“That’s what I thought. Hm, Dad frames the daughter’s boyfriend for murder and sends him to jail, that’s one that you don’t hear every day.”

“She keeps saying that she’s okay, but I don’t know, something seems off with her. I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Honestly? From what I can tell she’s got a resilience like nothing else, I’m sure she’ll be fine, just give it some time.”

She wants to trust what Sailor is saying, but she can’t. Betty’s learned at this point not to put too much trust into a town that has made a point to tear her friends apart.

***

Veronica and Hermione sit in silence over dinner, only the sound of the air conditioning and the scrape of their utensils across the plates making any noise. Veronica is pushing her greens around in a circle when Hermione finally breaks the stillness of the room.

“Your father is going to be having more late nights in the coming weeks,” she says. “So we won’t be seeing him around the house as much.”

“Fine by me, it’s not like I have anything to say to him,” Veronica says, not an ounce of regret in her voice. She could care less about her Dad right now, the less she sees of him the better.

Her blood still boils inside of her skin every time that she thinks about the day that Archie was arrested, the way that Hiram just stood there and _smiled_. Like he was proud of how everything turned out. 

“He’s working to provide for us, Veronica-.”

“He essentially cut me off just because I bought the Whyte Wyrm out from under him. He made _you_ run for mayor just so he could get a leg up in all of his business dealings in town, tell me exactly, how is that _providing_ for me?”

“Your father is doing what he has to, he’s a good man.”

Veronica scoffs, muttering under her breath.

“Excuse me, what was that?”

She glances up, looking her mother dead in the eye, “I said _you should’ve left him when you had the chance_.”

Hermione’s face turns to stone, and Hiram walks in the door not even five seconds later, prompting Veronica to get up from her seat and shut herself in her room before he can even speak to her.

She presses her back firmly against the door once she’s inside, forces out a shaky breath as some angry tears slip out. Veronica hates this, she wants this goddamn nightmare to be over already. A part of her wishes that she had never moved to Riverdale, wishes that she hadn’t met Archie or Betty or any of them. She wants to go back in time to before she met them, to before she showed up and imploded their entire lives.

More than anything, Veronica wishes that she could believe that this isn’t her fault.  

She gives herself ten minutes to be upset, then walks over to her vanity and cleans herself up, reapplies her makeup before going over to Betty’s to do homework. Even if she feels like her life is falling apart, she might as well keep up with the brave face, right?

The Cooper’s house is just as quiet as Veronica’s place, if not quieter, and she finds some comfort in it, makes her feel less alone. The next thing she knows, it’s after ten and she has three texts from her mother asking why she’s missed curfew. Veronica groans quietly as she reads them.

“Everything okay?” Bettys asks, looking up from her math homework.

“Yeah, I just- don’t really feel like going home, that’s all.”

“Do you wanna spend the night?”

Veronica looks over at her curiously, “Really? But it’s the middle of the week, are you sure your mom won’t mind?”

She almost laughs, “My mom hasn’t left her room in two days, hell, I doubt she even knows you’re here. It’ll be fine, V, I promise.”

Veronica gets up from her spot in front of the coffee table to wrap her arms around Betty’s shoulders.

“You are a godsend, Betty Cooper.”

“Thanks,” she replies. “I’m just glad that you’re here.”

 _Me too, Betty,_ Veronica thinks to herself, _me too._

***

Jughead wakes up on the couch in the trailer and finds that he has a crick in his neck.

_I guess that’s what I get for using my English book as a pillow._

He wipes the dried spit away from the corner of his mouth, laughs a little when he sees a wet stain over part of Edgar Allan Poe’s face. Getting up, he nearly trips over Sweet Pea trying to make his way to the bathroom. Jughead grumbles under his breath.

“You had to fall asleep curled up by the couch, didn’t you, Sweets?”

Sweet Pea, apparently half awake, gives him the one finger salute.

Jughead laughs; coming back from the bathroom, he finds that Fangs has taken his spot on the couch. He sighs, then decides that he might as well shower before school.

After the fight with Malachi and the rest of the ghoulies, after Sunnyside trailer park was quite literally set ablaze, nearly all of the Serpents had to hide out on the Northside of town for three days while they waited for things to die down. Luckily, Fred Andrews and a handful of other Northsiders had offered up their living rooms and spare beds, tried to make people from the Southside feel welcome. 

FP wasn’t kidding when he said that his trailer was literally one of the only ones standing. Every other one was either trashed and raided or turned into a pile of burnt rubble. Because of this, Jughead has found that most of the younger serpents- except for Toni who opted for staying with Cheryl- have decided that his trailer is the place to be- or, the place to sleep, at least.

It’s not that he minds, per se. He’s just not used to someone other than his Dad being there _all the time._ Jughead tells himself that it’s just part of being their new leader, that it’s something that he’ll just have to get used to. He can manage that, or at least he thinks that he can.

He’s in the middle of drying off his hair when his phone buzzes on the counter. It’s his mom; why would she be calling him this early?

“Mom?” He answers. “What’s up?”

_“Is your Dad around? I’ve been trying to call him for a couple of days but it keeps going to voicemail.”_

“Uh.” Jughead sputters. He does a two-foot radius scan before deciding that FP isn’t there.

“Nah, he must have left already, but I’ll tell him you called. How’s Jelly-.”

Gladys hangs up before he can get another word in, leaving him staring at his phone.

“Who the hell was calling you at seven in the morning?” Sweet Pea grumbles, coming into the kitchen.

“Oh, uh, nobody,” He lies. “Just a wrong number.”

Jughead ignores the nervous knot in his stomach and tries to get on with his day.

At school, Betty looks exhausted, like she hasn’t slept in a week. She puts up a front when he tries to ask her about it. 

“I’m fine, Jug, I swear. I just didn’t get as much sleep as I wanted to- Veronica kept kicking me in her sleep.”  

“What?”

“She spent the night- you know what, don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter.”

He wishes that he could believe her; not knowing what else to do, Jughead changes the subject.

“How has your mom been doing with all of this? I know you said that she was taking it kind of hard at the beginning.”

“Mom hasn’t left the house since Dad was arrested- unless you count the time that she yelled at all the people crowding in front of our yard, but I don’t. I don’t know how to cheer her up, Jug. I’ve tried everything. It’s like she just… gave up.”

Jughead assures her that she’ll figure something out, even though he isn’t entirely convinced that any of them will make it out of this unscathed.

***

Cal Hughes, the guy twice Archie’s size who- much like everyone else- does not like him at all, has been giving him side eye all morning. It’s not the first time that this has happened, but something about it is making Archie’s skin tingle. He’s not unconvinced that Cal could beat him to a pulp if he really wanted to, and sometimes, Archie thinks that he might just try.

The situation only worsens when Archie accidentally bumps into him while coming out of the bathroom.

“Watch it, fire crotch.”

“Sorry, I didn’t-.”

Cal sneers at him, “You got something to say, tough guy?”

“What? No, I-.”

“You think you’re better than all of us, don’t you?” He says, getting in Archie’s face. “Just cause you grew up on the Northside and went to the shiny school you think that makes you something? Nah… no you’re no better than any of the other assholes in this dump. But hey, at least those pricks know how to _keep their hands to themselves_ , right?”

He clenches his hands into a fist, and Cal just laughs at him.

“What are you gonna do? _Kill me_?”

Archie feels a chill run through his body; Cal scoffs, shakes his head before he mutters.

“Some murderer you are.”

He walks away finally, and Archie feels like he could cry.

He hates this. He doesn’t want to have to deal with Cal or the trial or any of this anymore. He wants his guitars back, his dog, _his bed_. Sometimes, when he can’t sleep because Keno is snoring in the next cell over, Archie worries that he’s not going to make it out of this, that this is going to be the end of him somehow.

Archie hits the wall once for good measure, then goes back to the rec room, waiting for all of this to be over, hopes that it comes sooner than later.

***

Veronica ditches the last two classes of the day and goes to Pop’s to work on the speakeasy plans. The conversation about layout plans and construction with Fred fizzles out quick seeing as they can’t start breaking ground until school is out for the summer. After a few minutes of standing around in an awkward silence, Veronica brings up something that she isn’t sure either of them really wants to talk about.

“Have you talked to Archie lately?”

“I called him last night, it sounds like he’s doing okay,” Fred tells her. “I guess it’s as good as can be expected from a kid in Juvie.”

Veronica feels her throat close up; something about the way Fred speaks- how defeated he sounds- it makes her feel worse than she thought it would. She angles her body away from him, trying to hide the fact that she’s two seconds away from crying.

“Veronica… hon, are you okay?”

The gentleness with which Fred speaks is enough to pull a sob out of her throat. She covers her mouth, trying to disguise the sound and he places a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” She rasps. “I got Archie into this mess a-and _I’m s-so sorry.”_

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Fred says, giving Veronica a hug. “This isn’t your fault, Veronica. You didn’t do this, I promise.”

As much as she wants to, she can’t believe him, not yet, anyway. So, Veronica, in all her disarray, just holds on tighter.

***

Betty gets home to an unnervingly quiet house, which in any other circumstance- any other chaotic point in her life- would have made her panic in a second. She finds a note on the kitchen counter from her mom.

_Went for a drive. Love you._

“Well, at least she’s getting out of the house.” She thinks out loud. Her content only lasts about a minute, until her phone rings and a deputy on the other end is telling her.

_“Miss Cooper? I’m sorry to tell you this, but your mother has been in an accident.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate cliffhangers but somehow I always end up putting them at the end of my chapters. Weird.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday KJ!

Veronica and Jughead rush into the emergency room at the same time. They find Betty sitting in the waiting room, her hands clasped in front of her as her legs shake. She called both of them not even ten minutes ago, nearly unable to speak through all the crying.

Betty looks up just as they come in, moving forward until she’s being hugged by both of them. Betty cries into Jughead’s shoulder, voice trembling as she tries to speak.

“S-She drove her car into a tree, I don’t- I should’ve known- oh _my god_.”

“B, there’s no way you could have known your mom would do something like this.” Veronica says, rubbing her hand down Betty’s back.

Jughead cradles the back of her head, tangling a hand into her ponytail. Looking over her shoulder, he finally realizes that Sailor is there too. He can’t stop himself from asking why they’re here in the first place.

 “Oh, did I forget to mention it? I’m Betty’s fairy godmother, I have to follow her everywhere. What do you think, moron? I drove her here.”

Betty steps back, looking up at him with watery eyes, “They were the only one around, I didn’t know what else to do.”

Jughead nods, kissing her forehead for a just a second before his phone is vibrating in his back pocket. It’s a text from his dad.

_Get back to the trailer. ASAP._

“Shit, my dad needs me- are you going to be okay? I can stay if-.”

“No, go, it might be Serpent stuff,” Betty insists. “I’ll be fine, I can call you later with an update.”

Jughead nods then kisses her forehead again before leaving her alone with Veronica and Sailor. 

He’s stupidly tense on the ride over to the trailer. Jughead hates leaving Betty alone in a moment like this, but if there’s something going on with the Serpents then he needs to be there to take care of it. He’s still getting used to being a leader, at least officially this time; Jughead’s not used to people relying on him, and so many of them at that.

After arriving, Jughead picks up the pace when he hears yelling coming from inside. He tells himself that it’s probably just something stupid, wonders who Sweet Pea and Toni picked a fight with this time. He isn’t, however, expecting to find Dad and a woman that he hasn’t seen in almost a year standing around the kitchen table, obviously mid-argument when he finally walks in.

“Mom?”

“Hey, kid.” She says, a tight, forced smile on her face. “C’mere, are you gonna hug me or what?”

Jughead does as she asked, giving her a half-assed hug. He looks back at his Dad after pulling away.

“A little bit of a heads up would’ve been nice, Jug.” He bites.

“Wh- she just called me this morning, I didn’t have a chance to tell you yet. Mom didn’t say she was- never mind. What are you doing here? Where’s Jellybean?”

“Back with your grandparents. She has school, Jughead.”

“Right, but you two could skip work to come scream at each other?”

FP snaps, “Hey, _watch your mouth_.”

Jughead rolls his shoulders, keeps a slightly pissed off look on his face.

As happy as he is to see his Mom again, he can’t help but be defensive towards her. He still remembers the phone call they had the night of homecoming, the one where she said _no, kiddo, I’m sorry there’s no room for you here._ It makes him wonder now where himself and his dad would have stayed if they had gone to Toledo like they originally planned. 

He repeats himself. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to ask-.”

“He’s not going with you,” FP interrupts. “No way in hell; people need him here.”

“Let him decide for himself, FP.”

“Let me decide what?” He cuts in. “Where am I going?”

Gladys doesn’t even try to be sympathetic as she spits out, “With me, back to Toledo.”

Jughead feels a pit form in the bottom of his stomach, his anxiety already bubbling beneath the skin.

“Wh- why would I do that?”

“Cause your sister misses having you around, she needs her big brother. Besides, from what I heard this town hasn’t been very nice to you lately.”

Oh, so FP told her about getting beat within an inch of his life by a bunch of gang members, _great_.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Incredibly, actually,” Gladys says, not once breaking her tough façade.

Jughead sputters, trying to think of something to say. This isn’t how he was expecting his day to turn out, and he doesn’t really know what to do now.

As much as he misses his sister he can’t just pack up his life and move to Toledo. He can’t just _leave_. That wouldn’t make sense, it wouldn’t be fair to the people who are counting on him. Like the Serpents, or Betty.

Shit, _Betty_.

“I have to go.” He says.

“Jughead, we’re not done here-.”

“Yeah, well, my girlfriend’s mom just tried to kill herself, so excuse me if that takes precedence over the custody dispute that you two magically decided to have.”

Jughead lets the door slam behind him before either of them has a chance to get mad, and he gets the unmistakable feeling that this is going to come back and bite him in the ass somehow.

***

Veronica and Sailor wait outside the hospital room, looking in every once and a while.

“I heard the doctor tell Betty that her mom is gonna pull through, so that’s good,” Veronica says. “I already told my mom that I’d be staying with her while Mrs. Cooper is in the hospital. It’s probably best that she isn’t alone right now.”

“Yeah.” Sailor says tensely.

Veronica looks over at them curiously, “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just not a fan of hospitals. My Mom got injured pretty badly once when I was a kid and I just- never liked them after that. Not that I had any reason to like them before that, that is.”

“I know what you mean. After Archie’s dad got shot and then Jughead getting beat up, I was really hoping not to come back here anytime soon.”

“Archie’s dad got shot?”

She nods, “Back in October, it was- messy, to say the least.”

“Yikes, first his dad gets shot and then your dad sends him to jail, that sounds like a lot of shit luck.”

Veronica feels her shoulders go tight. Sailor isn’t supposed to know that, hell no one outside of the inner circle is supposed to know that. So how the hell would they know?

“…Did Jughead tell you that?”

“No, Betty did.” Sailor says, tone apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t realize it was some big secret. I didn’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“What- no, no that’s not it- I just kinda wish she hadn’t told you.”

“I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t trust the new kid either if I were you.”

Something about the way Sailor says that makes her feel funny, but Veronica decides not to push it. Besides, there’s no point in starting a fight that she’s not sure that she can win.

***

Later that night on the phone, Veronica catches Archie up on everything that has gone on that day.

“Shit. Is she gonna be okay?”

_“According to Betty she’s going to make a full recovery. She’s been recommended to a mental health facility right outside of the city, she’s going to stay there for a little while. Honestly, I think we could all use a therapist at this point.”_

Archie sighs deeply, scrubbing his hand over his face.

“How is Betty doing with all of this?”

_“She’s shaken up over the whole thing but she’s keeping a level head- so about as good as can be expected with Betty.”_

“God, Ronnie, I’m so sorry I can’t be there to help right now.”

_“I know… I wish you were here, too.”_

Archie feels his stomach sink. There’s nothing that he can say that will fix this situation that they’re all in. So, he changes the subject, lets Veronica catch him up on all the high school drama that he’s missing out on and how the new kid is gradually becoming a part of the inner circle.

_“Sailor and their parents moved in down the street from you guys, at least that's what Betty said.”_

“Really? Huh, I guess the Dunham’s finally-.”

The receiver beeps in both of their ears, signaling that the phone call is going to be cut off within the minute; he sighs.

“Crap.”

_“I wish we could keep talking.”_

“I know so do I. But hey, you’re gonna be there at the trial, right?”

_“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”_

Archie can practically hear the smile in her voice, it leaves him with a warm feeling in his chest.

“Thanks, Veronica. I love-.”

The receiver clicks then gives him the dial tone, and the warm feeling in his chest leaves almost as soon as it came. He hangs up the phone, lets the guard walk with him back to the common area where dinner is being served. He’s pushing his food around his plate when Keno slides into the seat in front of him.

“Hey, Carrot Top, why the long face? The food can’t be that bad.”

Archie keeps his head down as he speaks. “Just some shit going on with my friends at home, really wish that I could be there to help.”

He leaves it at that. He doesn’t mention how he’s worried that himself and Veronica aren’t right for each other anymore, or that it feels like their relationship- hell, his whole life- is falling apart right in front of him, and there isn’t anything that he can do to stop it.

                                                                           ***

Betty is packing up her bag in her Mom’s now empty hospital room. Alice is being transferred to the Mental Health Facility outside of Riverdale today, and Betty has decided that it’s time that she got back to school. She’s missed enough school this year as it is.  

Jughead knocks on the door, lets himself in.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I was just coming to check on you before class.”

“I’m fine, Jughead, I swear.” She says. As she gets up from her seat, black spots dance in her vision and Betty has to take a second to collect herself. Despite her attempt to hide it, it doesn’t go unnoticed by Jughead.

“Are you sure that you wanna go back to school today? I mean your mom _literally_ just got admitted, and if you need to take another day to-.”

Betty snaps, “Jug, I need _one thing_ in my life to go normally right now so can we _please_ just go to school?”

Jughead sputters for a second, surprised by her outburst.

“Y-Yeah, yeah.” He says quietly. “Sorry. I shouldn’t of… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, lets just- we should go or we’re gonna be late.”

Betty feels bad for yelling, but she can’t help it. She’s slept less than ten hours since her mom was admitted three days ago, and it’s not like she was sleeping much before that.

She keeps having dreams about her dad. Last nights involved her getting the phone call about her Mom again, but this time her father was on the other end of the phone, saying that Betty did this to her somehow. It was enough to leave her in a cold sweat and unable to sleep for the rest of the night.

Betty goes through the school day in a fog. Barely pays attention in her classes; she nearly falls asleep in English until the teacher snaps at her to hold her head up with her neck. 

As she’s making her slow trek to lunch, Sailor calls to Betty from down the hall.

“Hey, Sunshine,” They say. “That’s quite the blank face you’ve got there.”

Betty manages half a grin as they sling their arm across her shoulders.

“Are you doing okay? I just wanted to check in, I know you got a lot on your plate right now.”

“I’m fine, really, Sailor, I swear.”

Betty can only hope that she doesn’t look as exhausted as she feels. Per usual, Veronica and Jughead get to their lunch table before everyone else.

“Have you talked to Archie lately, Veronica?” Jughead asks.

“I got to talk to him for a few minutes the other night, brought him up to speed with- you know, everything that’s occurred this week. I wish the conversation could have been longer but the system cut us off before we could finish talking.”

Sailor gives a short laugh, “That sucks.”

Veronica stiffens up, her face grows hard.

“Seriously? You think this is funny?”

“V-.”

“No, Betty, I’m not going to be nice about this. From the second Sailor showed up, they’ve treated everything like some joke and I’m sick of it. Can’t you just take something seriously for once, or, oh I don’t know, have a heart?”

“Hey, of course I have a heart… in a jar somewhere.”

Jughead stifles a laugh and Veronica shakes her head.

“You are unbelievable.”

“It was just a joke,” Sailor bites back. “Geez, chill out, pageant queen. No one died.”

“Whoa.” Jughead interrupts, obviously stunned by the comment.

Veronica practically seethes, “Excuse me?”

Betty, despite her newfound pounding headache, tries to keep this from escalating more than it already has.

“Veronica, stop.”   

“Betty’s Mom could have died, Fred Andrews nearly died, hell, even Jughead could have bled out if no one had gone to look for him after he got jumped. Everything that happens in this stupid town turns into a funeral somehow so don’t _you dare_ just sit there and act like-.”

“Ronnie, _that’s enough!_ ”

Veronica gapes at Betty, and everyone else at the table follows, stunned into silence by the loud remark. There’s an unspoken rule that Archie is the only one who gets to call her Ronnie. At least, no one has been courageous- or in this case, pissed off enough to try and get away with it. As soon she sees the reaction it caused, Betty wishes that she hadn’t opened her mouth at all.

“Can we just forget about it? Please?” 

Everyone nods and Veronica hides her face with her hand, trying to hide the fact that she’s about to cry.

Betty moves to get up, realizing that in the midst of all the fighting she hadn’t gotten her lunch yet. When she stands up, black spots dance in her vision once again, but this time they don’t leave. She braces her hand on the table, trying to keep the room from spinning so much.

Sailor sees her struggle, “Betty, are you okay?”

She nods, or at least tries to. Betty looks down at her feet, willing herself to make one of them move, but instead, her knees give out, sending her crashing to the floor as she finally loses her sense of reality.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We _can’t_ , that’s not an option anymore.”
> 
> “Why not!” She yells. “Why can’t we go?”
> 
> “You know damn well what he’d do to us if we tried to leave!”
> 
> Veronica feels her stomach bottom out; the room goes still and quiet. She’s never heard her mom talk like that before; like she knows how much power Hiram has, how he could hurt the both of them if he really wanted to.
> 
> “ _Please_ , mija, let me protect you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More fights in this chapter, one might not end the way you're expecting it to. Enjoy!

Betty wakes up in the nurses’ office, lying on one of the stiff cots hidden behind a grey shade. She’s not surprised that this is where she was brought, it’s not like there’s a parent to call and come pick her up. When she finally sits up, she notices Jughead sitting at the edge of the bed. He makes a concerned face before beginning to speak.

“I’m not gonna say I told you so. But I am gonna ask why you didn’t tell me that you haven’t been sleeping.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” She says with a shrug. “Talking about it wouldn’t have stopped the nightmares from happening. That’s all that it is, anyway. They’ve been keeping me up at night.”

“So then why not tell someone? What’s so wrong about letting somebody else help you when it comes to taking care of things? I could have helped with this, Betty.”

She goes off again, “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me! Don’t you get that?”

“No, I know-.”

“Then stop trying to! I don’t need you to fix this! This is my thing to deal with, not yours or Veronica’s or anyone else, just me. So just _leave it alone_ already, please.”

Jughead’s face falls, looks heartbroken; that’s the third time today that Betty has blown up at someone, and somehow Jughead has managed to take the brunt of it. How could this whole day go so sour so quickly?

They sit in silence for a minute before Jughead gets up, moving towards the door.

“Jug-.”

“No, no, you were right, I should let you figure this out. You know just- give you some space so I’ll just uh- I’ll see you later.”

Betty sighs, lying back against the cot and covering her hands with her face. She loves her friends, she really does, but how the hell is she supposed to explain to them that she doesn’t need them looking over her shoulder all the time just waiting for her to break down? How can she prove to them that- despite everything that’s occurred today- she can get along just fine without a goddamn babysitter.

In the midst of her own inner battle, Betty thinks of something else.

_Wait, proof. That’s it. Hiram Lodge doesn’t have any proof. There’s no trial if there’s no evidence._

She can’t be certain, but Betty thinks she might have found a way to stop Archie’s trial and bring him home.

***

Of all the days that Reggie Mantle could have chosen to pick a fight with Jughead, he had to choose this one- which already sucks on more than one level.

“Hey, My Chemical Romance!” He calls down the hallway. “When’s the reunion tour?”

Usually, he wouldn’t pay any mind to Reggie’s antics, but right now he’s pissed off and there’s no one here to stop him, so why not. Jughead stops, turns on his heel to face him.

“Mantle, I’m going to say this with every gentle bone in my body- _fuck off_.”

“Aw, C'mon, what’s the matter, Jones? Did your girlfriend break up with you or somethin’? Let me guess, she found somebody who could get the job done better, huh?”

Jughead feels his body stiffen, his jaw goes tense in a way that it never has before. He’s about half a second from giving Reggie a piece of his mind when a new voice starts talking from over Reggie’s shoulder.

“Hey, tall Asian with the douchebag hair.” Sailor yells. “Why don’t you leave my friend alone, huh? Go bother somebody that’s closer to your IQ.”  

Reggie turns around, chuckles at little as he faces them.

“Hey, we’re just having a little fun over here, ain't that right, Jones? Hey, why don’t you get your little friend here to help you out? I’m sure she’d _love_ to help you get rid of your case of blue-.”

Jughead’s heard enough; he swings his fist around and nails Reggie right in the jaw. He doesn’t stop there; even after Reggie has lost his footing Jughead keeps wailing on him. It’s like he’s been possessed by something that he can’t explain, like all his anger from the last few weeks has come to the surface and now it’s forcing its way out. At this point, he knows a crowd has grown, a wall of students watching all of this unfold.

Somewhere over his shoulder, Jughead hears Sailor yelling at him.

“Jughead, that’s enough! _Get off of him!”_

He can’t bring himself to care. A few seconds later, Jughead feels someone- likely a teacher, tugging at his arms, trying to pull him off. There’s blood streaming down Reggie’s face now, pouring out of his nose and staining his teeth; Jughead has a flashing memory of Chic being tied up in the Coopers basement and laughing in his face, how eerily similar the two moments are. It shakes him to his core.

He feels his elbow connect with what can only be someone’s nose, and Jughead feels all of the fight leave him in a second, letting one of the English teachers that he’s never met before pull him away and off towards Weatherbee’s office.

As he’s being shuffled away, Jughead looks up and sees Betty standing with Sailor at the very back of the crowd, and he feels his heart sink. She makes eye contact with him for only a second before he’s turning the corner, and he already knows that he’ll never be able to forget the frightened look that sat upon her face.

***

Veronica goes to the Pembrooke after school at her Mom’s insistence, but mostly just to get more clothes to bring over to Betty’s. She stays maybe an hour, just long enough to make small talk and meet the new doorman, Walter.

In all honesty, she’s not surprised that her Mom put up a fight when she tried to leave.

“You don’t have to go yet,” Hermione says. “Your father won’t be home for another hour.”

“Right, because that’s exactly what I need, to run into Dad on my way out just so I can get another lecture about me not being home.”

“He’s not the enemy, Ronnie.”

Veronica rolls her eyes.

“You keep saying that, but he has yet to do anything that’s going to convince me otherwise. Honestly, Mom, whatever happened to ‘we’ll cut all ties with him’. We should have bailed out while we had the chance, hell, we still could. It wouldn’t be hard.”

“We _can’t_ , that’s not an option anymore.”

“Why not!” She yells. “Why can’t we go?”

“You know damn well what he’d do to us if we tried to leave!”

Veronica feels her stomach bottom out; the room goes still and quiet. She’s never heard her mom talk like that before; like she knows how much power Hiram has, how he could hurt the both of them if he really wanted to.

 _“Please_ , mija, let me protect you.”

Hermione walks away before she can say anything else. Almost as soon as she leaves the room, Veronica hears her phone buzzing on the table behind her. She picks it up without a second thought.

_“V? It’s Betty, I think I have an idea.”_

***

Less than an hour later, Veronica and Betty are standing in the Coopers living room talking to Sailor, telling them the story of Jason Blossom and everything that’s happened this year, how Betty plans to use it to their advantage to get Archie freed.

 “So- wait, lemme get this straight,” Sailor says curiously. “Last year you guys solved a murder case, and now you wanna… disprove one?

“Yeah, essentially,” Betty replies, Veronica nods along with her.

“…this town is fuckin weird, but I’m in. Where do we start?”

“We try to find something proving that Archie didn’t kill that guy. Fingerprints, the actual gun, anything.”

“Speaking of guys doing disastrous things, have you heard from Jughead at all since he whisked away after the fight with Reggie?”

“Fight?” Veronica asks, “What fight?”

Betty sputters for a moment, “Jughead and Reggie got into some- tiff in the hallway after I blacked out at lunch. I tried texting him a couple of times but he hasn’t-.”

She stops when her phone buzzes in her back pocket.

“Who is it? Is it Jughead?”

“No, it’s his dad- Mr. Jones? ...he what?”

“What is it?” Veronica questions after seeing the panicked look on her face. “Betty, where is he?”

Betty hangs up the phone a second later, letting her hand drop to her side as she looks up at the both of them.

“You’re not gonna believe this.”

***

Archie only gets a twenty minutes heads up before his new roommate shows up. All he’s told is to go wait in his cell until he arrives. He takes to pacing around the small space causing him to hear the guards arrival before he actually sees him.

“Andrews, meet your new cellmate, Mr-.”

“Thanks, but we’ve already met.”

Archie feels all the hairs on his arms stand on end at the sound of the familiar voice. Whirling around, he sees Jughead leaning against the doorframe; he shrugs, an almost smug grin growing on his face.

“Geez, Arch,” He jokes. “I thought you would have been happier to see me.”

It’s Archie’s turn to smile. He steps forward pulling Jughead in for a hug. This is the first time that anyone other than one of the other assholes here has touched him in weeks; Archie didn’t realize how much he’s missed it. He breathes a sigh of relief when Jughead pats him on the back.

“I’ve missed you so much, dude, but this isn’t how I would have preferred to reunite. What the hell are you doing here anyway?”

Jughead steps back, leaning against the free bed coming out of the wall. “Reggie and I got into a fight after lunch and Mr. Weatherbee thought it was _imperative_ that I _spend time away from school and resolve the conflicts_ that I’ve been having, whatever the hell that means.”

“You seriously got sent here all because of some dumb fight?”

He makes a sour face, “I might have also accidentally elbowed a teacher in the face.”

“Jug!”

“Hey, the keyword in that sentence is accidental, alright? Don’t judge.”

Archie scoffs then laughs a little, shaking his head.

“That really sucks, man, I’m sorry.”

“Could be worse, at least I didn’t get expelled, or get one of the other Serpents in trouble, for that matter. A mandatory fourteen day stay, I guess this means that I won’t be able to come to your trial. I know you wanted all of us to be there, I'm sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Archie gripes lightly. “There’s not much point in going. I’m going up against Hiram Lodge, so I’m doomed anyway.”  

_“Dude.”_

“They wanna try me as an adult, Jug.”

Archie regrets saying it as soon as it leaves his mouth, hates the way that his outburst makes all of the color drain from Jughead’s face.

“Wh- since when? Why didn’t anybody know about this?”

“I didn’t find out until this morning during a phone call with my Dad and the lawyer. Apparently, Hiram Lodge’s “people” are really pushing to get me put away. I’m barely sixteen and all they want is to ruin me… at this rate, I might as well let them.”

Jughead snaps “What the hell has gotten into you?”

“What do you mean? I’m just being honest.”

“No, you’re not being honest, you’re acting like somebody else. This isn’t you! I don’t know whose gotten in your head lately, but this isn’t you. You’re Archie Andrews, you don’t give up like this… it’s part of why everyone likes you so much.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not to sure that people like me now.”

Jughead sighs and Archie has to look away. He’s not proud of this, of how he’s given up on himself. He always thought he was better than this, but lately… he hasn’t been so sure. He makes a joke, trying to lighten the mood.

“You know, if you really wanted to be roommates again, you could have just asked my Dad if you could move in again, you didn’t have to go to such drastic measures.”

He scoffs, “You sound like my Mom, only she thinks that I’m trying to get away from her.”

Archie cocks his head in confusion, Jughead just waves it off.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s a story for a different day. How’s the food here? I’m starving.” 

The rest of the night goes by smoothly. Archie introduces Jughead to Keno over dinner and the three of them ramble on about how things work around there, like who to avoid at all costs and which guards are nicer than others.

It’s weird having Jughead there, but Archie isn’t about to protest it. With his trial coming up at the end of the week, it’s good to have a friendly face around.

Later, after lights out has been called, Archie and Jughead are still catching up with each, talking quietly in the privacy of their cell.

“Does Veronica know? That you’re being tried as an adult, I mean.”

Archie shakes his head, “I couldn’t bring myself to tell her, I figured that she’s already got enough to deal with right now, I didn’t want to make it worse by adding that to the mix.”

“Are you worried?” Jughead asks cautiously. “About the trial?”

“I’m more worried about Ronnie, I’m not really sure where she stands right now- as far as the two of us, I mean.”

“Dude, are you for real right now?”

Archie props himself up on his arm, gives his best confused face in the low light of the room. He’s not exactly sure what he said wrong, but Jughead seems fully prepared to let him hear it.

“Veronica adores you. You should have seen the way that she ripped into Sailor at lunch today for laughing at your expense, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so mad before. Believe me, she’s on your side one hundred percent. At the same time, yeah, I get that feeling of not knowing what do to.”

“Is everything okay with you and Betty?”

“I don’t know at this point. She’s been pushing me away, I’m not really sure what to do about it. I get that she needs her space after everything that’s happened lately but- it’s hard, not being able to help.”  

“Yeah,” Archie agrees. “I know what you mean.”

The conversation dwindles off after that. It’s not long before Archie hears the whistle of Jughead’s breathing, proving that he’s fallen asleep. Archie, on the other hand, lies awake for another hour just trying to make sense of everything. He sends a quiet plea to whoever is listening, asking that if nothing else, his friends are okay at the end of all this. If somebody got hurt because of him, Archie can’t imagine what he’d do.

 _Please just protect them,_ he thinks to himself, _they’re too good for this chaos I’ve dragged them into. My friends deserve better… give them something better than all of this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Archie and Jughead are roommates again! As it should be! There's most likely going to be two (maybe three) more chapters after this one!
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you think of it so far! Have a great day!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another cliffhanger at the end of this one, sorry. Enjoy!

Veronica goes home to get her Psych book that she’d left there. She had only planned to stay for a minute, but when she walked out of her bedroom she found Hiram sitting at the table, surrounded by paperwork.

For a second all she can do is stare at him. This is the most time that they’ve spent in the same room together since Archie was arrested, now it feels like she should say everything that she’s been holding in these last few weeks, just to get it off her chest. She opens her mouth before she can take a second to think about it.

“I don’t understand you.” She says. “Why would you do this to a kid that you know is innocent? You know that you can’t win. There’s no trial here, practically no evidence. So why do this? Why put Archie at risk?”

He doesn’t even look up at her, “It’s a matter or business, Veronica. I couldn’t expect you to understand.”

“This isn’t about business anymore. It’s about your pride! Since when did your insatiable ego come before the safety of someone else’s kid, or me for that matter? You always said that you stood for family, but if you do this then it’s going to ruin someone else’s life. And don’t try and tell that it has anything do to with business because I’m not buying it anymore. How could you do this? Why can’t you just leave things be for once?”

Her voice cracks as she finishes; Veronica didn’t even realize that she’d had so much to say. She’s half expecting her Dad to give her another lecture on respect, or at least react a little, but he doesn’t even flinch. It’s like he’d seen this outburst coming all along.

Hiram looks up, face stern as he asks, “Are you done?”

She scoffs, shakes her head as she walks away.

“Yeah, Dad,” She bites. “We’re done.”

Veronica lets the door to the apartment slam behind her. She presses her back against it for a moment, breathing deeply, willing herself not to cry. Tells herself that’s he’s not worth it, a man as callous and spiteful as her father doesn’t deserve to be cried over. There are more important things to worry about.

***

“Are you sure that your mom can’t represent you?” Jughead asks through a mouthful of oatmeal. “I mean she’s the best judge of your character, next to your dad and I, at least.”

Archie shakes his head. “She can’t, Jug, She’s too close to it. Besides, she’s got another case that she’s working on out in Chicago. She can’t even get out of town. Anyways, Mrs. McCoy already agreed to represent me at the trial… not that it’s gonna matter.”

Jughead sends him a glare at the demeaning comment while Keno decides to chime in.

“Speaking of family members, is your old man coming to Friends and Family Day?”

“To what?”   

“Friends and Family Day. Its basically like regular visiting hours except with less rules and they make a whole day out of it. It’s pretty depressing if you ask me, but people still show up to see these losers.”

“I don’t know, I’ll have to ask my dad. When is it?”

“Thursday.”

Archie feels his skin prickle with anxiety. That’s the day before his trial, the more he thinks about it the worse he feels. He clears his throat, trying to cover up the awkward pause.

“Uh, cool, I’ll uh- call him later. Jug, what about you?”

“Nah, my Dad’s got bigger things to worry about and my Mom is probably back in Toledo by now anyway.”

“Wait- your mom was in town? You didn’t tell me that.”

Jughead shrugs, “It wasn’t important. All she wanted to was to take me back to Toledo with her. It was pointless of her to come.”

Keno nearly laughs. “Wait, wait- so you’re saying that your Mom just moved to another state? And didn’t bother to take you with her?”

“Dude, don’t-.”

“Yeah, and? Is that funny to you or somethin’?” Jughead says, his tone clipped.

“It’s not funny. I’m just saying at least when my mom ditched me she had the decency to leave me at the courthouse first.”

Archie yells, “Hey, shut the hell up, Keno!”

Archie didn’t realize he’d been as loud as he was until half of the room turns around to stare at him. Apparently, that’s what he gets for not speaking up more than once the entire time that he’s been here.

Keno sneers at him, ready to fire back when a guard approaches the table.

“Yates, you have a visitor.” 

“But I’m not expecting anybody.”

“Besides the point, now get up.”

He spares Archie another snide glance before following the guard out to the visitor’s room. Jughead speaks up a few minutes later.

“You didn’t have to do that, he’s just some kid. Hell, I’m not even gonna be here in two weeks, what’s it matter what he says.”

“The whole reason I got into this mess was because I didn’t speak up for myself as soon as I should have. I’m not gonna let that happen to you or anybody else. Besides, no one gets to talk to my best friend that way and then get away with it… not if I have anything to say about it.”

Jughead looks for a second like he wants to fight it, but then doesn’t, and all Archie feels is relieved. He can’t wait for this week to be over.

***

Sailor, Veronica, and Betty are all sitting around her living room, surrounded by papers and their computers, looking for anything that’s going to prove that Hiram Lodge is framing Archie for murder, or linking him to the murder in the first place. Betty sighs as she gets to the end of another file having found absolutely jack squat.

“There has to be something here,” she says. “A bounced check, a phone line nobody knows about- something.”

“We’ve been at this all week, Betty,” Veronica says. “If there was something here we would have found it by now. My father’s been pulling schemes like this for a long time, he knows how to cover his tracks.”

“I know, I know, I just- I wish there was something more that I could do to help.”

“Maybe Archie knows something that we don’t,” Sailor interjects. “You guys are going to that Family thing at the detention center tomorrow, right?” 

“Oh- uh, I don’t know. I’m not sure that Jughead would want me there.”

“You guys got into a fight, you didn’t break up.” Veronica reminds her. “Trust me, he wants you there. Besides, Archie asked for both of us to come. It’ll be fine, B, I promise.”

“Alright, well if I’m going then so is Sailor.”

They sputter, “What? No- I don’t even know Archie.”

“But you’re Jughead’s friend, right?”

“Well, I guess, but-.”

“Good, then it’s settled. We’re all going.”

The front door swings open before Sailor can try to fight her again. Cheryl lets herself into the house with all the grace of a blue jay.

“Veronica. Cousin. New… Person.”

Sailor rolls their eyes while Betty greets her.

“Cheryl, hey. What are you-?”

“Please, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that the Boxcar Kids would start their own investigation. I have information that could help. Now, do you wanna hear what I have to say or not?”

All of them nod anxiously.

“I overhead Mumsy and Uncle Creepo talking with Hiram Lodge in the barn shortly before Archie was arrested.”

“What were they talking about?” Betty asks.

“They were making plans. Hiram kept going on about his plans to get ‘him’ out of the way.”

“Oh my god, Cheryl. Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“I didn’t know that they were talking about Archie. If I had I would have gone to Sheriff Minetta, I swear.”

Veronica scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest, “Yeah because that would have been a lot of help.”

“That’s not the worst part. Your dad has false evidence, Veronica. He’s altered it to the point that a judge and a jury won’t even realize that the information is fake, his lawyer is in on the whole thing. They’re going to do everything they can to get Archie put away… I’m sorry, I really am.”

Cheryl makes herself scarce, and Betty begins to realize that there’s nothing that they can do. Hiram Lodge is going to win once again.

“What do we do now?” Veronica asks, quietly.

Sailor crosses their arms over their chest, tone defeated.

“Pray for a miracle, doll face.”

***

Friends and Family day is just as chaotic as Keno made it sound. There’s a handful of screaming kids running around, some of them belong to the older guys in the detention center. Most of the guys, like Archie and Jughead, are just sitting around, waiting for someone to show up, to be there for them.

“They’ll be here,” Jughead says to Archie, leaning against the table. “They’re probably just running behind. Playing hooky isn’t always easy to get away with.”

Archie nods, trying to hide the way that his leg shakes with nerves under the table.

There’s a part of him that’s worried that his friends and his Dad aren’t going to show up, that they magically decided to give up on him after all this time. That would hurt more than anything, having to go through all of this without his favorite people by his side.

Sure enough, five minutes later, Betty, Veronica, and someone else that he’s never met before come walking through the door, all of them smiling wide when they spot Archie. He can’t get out of his seat fast enough.  

Veronica gets to him first- no surprise there. She throws her arms around his shoulders and Archie tightens his arms around her waist, holding her as close as he can, just breathing in the smell of her perfume.

“I’ve missed you so much, Archiekins.” She says against the shell of his ear.

“I missed you, too, Veronica. I’m glad that you’re here.”

He looks over her shoulder, realizing that someone very important is missing from the group.

“Where’s my dad?” He asks.

Veronica pulls away, looks back at Betty for help.

“Something happened at Pop’s this morning and he had to go help with the clean-up.” She says, moving forward. “But he promises that he’ll be there tomorrow at the trial.”

Archie nods, attempts to ignoring the sinking feeling in his gut as he gives Betty a small hug. He changes the subject.

“You must be Sailor, I heard you’ve been keeping my seat warm. I appreciate it.”

“Uh, yeah, you’re welcome,” They stammer, shaking his hand. “I guess I’m just hoping that I still have somewhere to sit when you get out of here.”

“Hey, of course you do.” Betty assures them. “You’re a part of the inner circle just as much as anyone else.”

Sailor smiles, continuing their introduction with Archie; Betty catches Jughead’s eye, gestures over her shoulder.

“Can we talk for a minute?”

He nods, following her to one of the few vacant tables, opting to sit on top of the table. It takes a minute for the conversation to actually start seeing as both of them are still trying to find the words to say. Betty speaks up first, spewing out the first thing that she can think of.

“I talked to Cheryl, her and Toni have been holding down the Serpent fort while you’ve been gone, but they’ve had some help from your Dad.” She jokes, “I think the boys like Cheryl more than you.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me. She’s a lot easier on the eyes than I am.”

She laughs a little, then says, “Cheryl said that they’re working on a new initiation process. One that’s a little less violent.”

“If it means that no one else ends up with a broken rib then I’m all for it.”

“…I’m sorry for snapping at you that day in the nurse’s office, I know you were just trying to help.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for stepping on your toes.”

“You weren’t, you didn’t, it’s- I’m so accustomed to dealing with things by myself so I guess I’m just- getting used to that, still. Having someone else to lean back on, I mean.”

“I know, I get it,” Jughead replies. “You’re an independent person, it’s one of my favorite things about you.”

Betty smiles. She leans in to kiss him, still grinning against his mouth. She rests her cheek against the top of his head as he settles against her shoulder.

“I missed you a lot, Jug. I know it was only a few days but-.”

“I know… me too.”

They talk quietly for another minute before deciding to go back and join the group. They’re both surprised to find Sailor and Veronica talking by themselves.

Jughead asks, “Where’s Archie?”

***

Archie has to excuse himself mid-conversation to go back to his cell, having realized that he forgot something.

Part of how Juvie works, at least in Riverdale, is a lot like the twelve-step program for alcoholics. This week, all of the residents had been encouraged to write a letter to someone they might have hurt, making amends and all that shit. When he asked Jughead and Keno if they were going to write one, both of them had laughed in his face.

“I’ve been on the receiving end of those letters from my Dad more than once,” Jughead had told him, “Believe me, Arch, they’re useless.”

Archie, unlike the other two, had actually written one, but now it was a matter of finding it.

After a few minutes of looking, Archie noticed it on the floor, poking out from the corner of his bed. He pockets the letter, then turns around to find Keno standing in the doorway, one of his hands tucked behind his back.

He looks both stoic and nervous at the same time, and Archie wonders if he’s got something to say.

“Hey, dude.” He starts. “Listen, I’m sorry for yelling at you the other day at breakfast. I wasn’t-.”

“It’s no big deal, I’m not mad about that anymore. It’s water under the bridge, honestly.”

“Oh, cool.” Archie turns back around, making sure he hasn’t forgotten anything else. “For a minute I thought you were-.”

He stops as sharp pain suddenly appears in his left side, looks down and sees the pointed end of a jagged knife coming out of his jumpsuit, blood already beginning to stain the surrounding area. The knife twists then retreats out of his body.

Archie can’t believe what he’s seeing; he leans against the wall as the sight of blood leaving his body makes him feel lightheaded.

He looks up, his face pale and hands at a near tremble as he meets Keno’s eye again, the bloody knife still in his hand.

He doesn’t even look fazed by what he’s done.

“Sorry, Arch.” He spits out. “But it had to be done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the last line in a last minute edit bc I thought the original one was misleading. I don't know. Tell if it works in the comments? Thanks again for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *writes a s3 fic where someone moves in down the street from Betty*
> 
> Riverdale writers: *announces a new character who's coming to Riverdale and moving in down the street from Betty*
> 
> Me: WHAT THE FUCK. 
> 
> Also, I don't know anything about how court actually works I just googled some stuff so bear with me, alright? Just barely edited.

Jughead asks, “Where’s Archie?”

“He went back to his cell,” Veronica says. “Said he forgot something.”

Jughead pulls a confused face, wondering what he could have possibly left behind. Something doesn't feel right to him. He tells his friends that he’ll be back in a minute, deciding that he should go check on Archie, curious as to what is taking him so long.

The walk back to their shared room seems impossibly long this time around, his worry growing with each step. As he rounds the corner, Jughead spots a knife covered in red stuff on the ground a few feet away from their cell; he feels his heart freeze inside of his chest.

“Archie?” He calls; a groan comes from inside the cell.

Jughead moves until he reaches the doorway, and a part of him wishes that he’d never followed Archie in the first place.

Archie is lying on the floor between the two beds, blood steadily leaking out of a wound on the left side of his body, looking like he just met the holy ghost.

“J-Juggie.” He groans, the pain evident on his face.

Jughead drops to his knees in a second, clamping his hand over the wound. It does little to stop the flow, but it’s the best he’s got right now.

“K-Keno-.” Archie tries to say. “H-he tried t-to-.”

Jughead feels his blood run cold, realizing what his best friend is trying to say.

_That asshole did this. He tried to kill my best friend._

“I know, I hear you Arch. I got you. It’s gonna be okay, you’re going to be okay.”

He doesn’t believe his own words, but one of them has to say it, has to have even a sliver of hope. Whether it’s from the shock or the panic, Archie begins to shake, breath rattling in his chest; Jughead has half a mind to start yelling for help when someone else’s voice starts echoing down the hallway.

It’s Sailor, the newest knight in shining armor, it would seem.

“Hey, Jones, Betty says you need to- _oh_ _my god_.”

“Sailor, quick, I need you to go get a guard, tell them Archie’s been hurt, he needs help.”

Sailor doesn’t move, just keeps staring at where Jughead is so desperately trying to keep the blood inside of Archie’s body. Jughead tries something else.

“Emily, _please_.”

They seem to snap out of it after that, running down the hall in a second, yelling all the while for someone to call an ambulance.

Jughead looks back at Archie, noticing the way that his eyelids have begun to droop, staying closed longer each time that he blinks. Jughead grabs his free hand squeezing it as tight as he can.

“Hey, _hey_ , Archie, listen to me, alright? Don’t you dare let go of my hand, you hear me?”

Archie nods half-assedly, or maybe it’s just a reaction to the blood loss. Either way, Jughead doesn’t want to think about it, just wants to get Archie to a hospital, to somewhere that can actually fix him for once.

A handful of guards come in a few seconds later, all but shoving Jughead against the wall as they lift Archie under the arms and legs, taking him out of the room, hardly bothering to keep him from bleeding out.

 _Please,_ he thinks to himself, _please don’t take him away. Not when he’s so close to his only chance of freedom. Let him have his chance to get out of here in the first place._

***

Sailor, Veronica, and Betty are all sitting in the Riverdale General waiting room once again, all of them anxious as ever to hear some news on how Archie is doing.

All of them had been there when the guards had carried him out, his body limp and ashen; Veronica had screamed when she saw him, would have hit the floor if Betty hadn’t been there to steady her. After watching him get put onto a gurney and into the back of an ambulance, the three of them had run out of the building to Betty’s car, not even remembering to say goodbye to Jughead in their haste.

Veronica has been crying quietly ever since they arrived, worried out of her mind for her boyfriend. She keeps squeezing Betty’s hand every time a nurse walks by, hoping that one of them is going to have some news as to how Archie is doing.

“Fred is with him, V,” Betty says. “I’m sure he’ll come out with an update as soon as he has one.”

“Yeah,” She mutters. “Or he’ll come out asking us to help with funeral preparations.”

The conversation ends after that, neither Sailor or Betty knowing what to say. Twenty minutes later, a male nurse holding a plastic bag comes walking towards the group.

“Are you three here for Archibald Andrews?” He asks.

“Yeah, yeah we’re here for Archie,” Betty says, scrambling to get up. “Is he okay?”

“Oh, sorry, hon, I don’t know. I was just asked to bring this out, he had a letter in his back pocket when they brought him into the ER. Which one of you is Sailor?”

They raise their hand hesitantly, “Uh, I am. Why?”

The nurse holds the bag out, waiting for them to take it.

“It’s addressed to you,” He says. “I gotta get back to another patient, but I hope your friend is okay.”

He walks away, and all the three of them just stare at the letter, unsure what to make of it. There’s a speckle of blood in the corner that makes the situation all the more unsettling.

“Why the hell would Archie write me a letter?” Sailor asks, all but dumbfounded.

“I don’t know, open it. It might be important.”

Sailor pulls the letter out, rips it open and begins to read silently to theirself. Their face falls as they continue to read.

“What is it?” Betty asks. “What does it say?”

“It- it’s an apology,” They say solemnly. “For if he goes away to jail and- how to help you guys through it.”

Sailor shoves the letter into their pocket, not bothering to be gentle about it.

Veronica sighs shakily, feeling her blood boiling under her skin.   

“I hate this,” She states loudly. “We shouldn’t be doing this. Archie shouldn’t be hurt- our lives shouldn’t be such a mess.”

“We’ll figure something out, V.” Betty says. “We always do.” 

“What makes you so sure that this isn’t going to end in complete chaos?”

“I’m not, but sometimes you just gotta have a little hope.”

She almost laughs, “You sound like Archie.”

“Yeah- that’s kind of the idea.”

***

When Archie wakes up for the first time, his dad is there, the familiar feeling of calloused fingers moving carefully over the skin of his arm. If he wasn’t drugged out of his mind, he’d probably cry, or hug him. He tries to talk despite his throat feeling like sandpaper, barely manages to open his eyes.

“Dad?”

“Hey, hey kiddo. I’m here.” Fred says. “I’m right here, Arch.”

 _Good,_ he thinks. _It’s been too long since I’ve seen you._

It’s not much longer before he’s out again, the medicine pulling back under into a dreamless sleep.

The second time he wakes up his Dad is still there, but so are some of his friends, so it’s not too bad.

There’s a dull ache in his side, and it reminds him of why he’s here in the first place. He gets a flashing image of Keno’s face just seconds after he stuck the knife into his side, it makes him groan audibly.  

A small hand curls around his own, squeezing his fingers.

“Archie? Are you awake?”

He forces his eyes open, looking over and finding Veronica at his bedside, Betty standing behind her.

“Hi.” He says quietly.

“Hey, handsome. How do you feel?”

“…Foggy. What time is it?”

“Around noon on Friday.” Fred tells him. “You’ve been asleep for a while.”

“So, wait- the trial?”

“It’s still happening, they’ve just delayed it a few days so you can recover, that’s all.”

He sighs, settling back into his pillows. A part of him had been hoping that getting stabbed while in juvie would be punishment enough. He looks up, finally notices Sailor standing in the doorway, arms crossed over their chest and looking uncomfortable.

“Hey,” Archie says in their direction, “I’m pretty sure I heard Jughead talking to you before I blacked out, so thanks- for coming to my rescue and stuff.”

“Uh- you’re welcome, maybe just a little less blood next time, alright?”

A small series of laughs fill the room, and the conversation continues. Archie tries to keep a brave face on through the worry he feels and the pain in his side. The thought of having to go to trial absolutely mortifies him, but losing his friends, being kept from his family- that’s just about the worst thing that Archie could ever imagine.

***

After the stabbing, Keno gets arrested for real- or at least, he gets put into solitary while he awaits sentencing.

Jughead, by all means, is furious. Someone tries to kill his best friend and now he doesn’t get a chance to give a piece of his mind- at least not in the way that he wants to.

During yard time, however, Jughead can rip into him all he wants. The only thing really separating them is a line of wire fences, so the first chance that he gets, Jughead marches over and crouches by where Keno is sitting on the ground, his back leaning against the metal wall.

“What the hell do you want?” He asks, somehow knowing it was Jughead without having to look.

“I wanna know why you did it. Why did you stab Archie?”

“Carrot Top had it comin’; nobody here liked him, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to take him out.”

“But why you?” He sneered. “He was your friend, at least as far as I could tell- so why would you go and do something like this? What could you have possibly have gained from sticking a knife in his side? A person doesn’t just wake up and decide to attempt murder. You had to have some sort of motive.”

“Fuck off, dude. I don’t expect you to understand.”

Jughead scoffs. A part of him is ready to give up and just blame it on anger, maybe Keno is more spiteful that he originally thought. He hasn’t even taken ten steps away when Keno speaks up.

“An older Mexican dude in a suit paid me to do it.” He says, tone flat.

Jughead halts in his tracks, feels his heart stop. He turns back carefully, still staring at the back of Keno’s head.

“Does this guy also have a sly grin that makes you feel sick to your stomach?”  

Keno nods, “Yeah. Gave me the knife, too. Offered to pay off my bail and an extra ten grand on top of that.”

“You know that you’re never gonna see that money, right? He’s just using you.”

He shrugs, doesn’t seem fazed at all by what has been said.

Jughead walks away, practically has to beg one of the guards to let him go inside and make a phone call. He raps the pads of his fingers against the wall as he waits for someone to answer. It clicks after the third ring.

“Betty? It’s Jughead. I know who did this to Archie, it was Hiram Lodge.”

***

It’s the morning of the trial and Archie swears that he’s never been so anxious- or sweat this much in his entire life. He’s wearing a suit that his dad brought him the night before, the one from last year, the one he wore to the back to school dance before everything went to shit. He keeps pulling at his tie, as if that’s going to help him in any way.

He’s in one of the side rooms, waiting for someone to come in and escort him to the courtroom. Archie looks up at the ceiling, speaks out loud just in case the man upstairs really is listening.

“Please,” He whispers. “Please don’t let this end as badly as I think it will.”

A few minutes later, Mrs. McCoy walks in and ushers Archie out to the courtroom. The crowd isn’t small, but he manages to spot his Dad, Veronica, and Sailor up front. He catches Veronica’s eye as he passes by, the small smile that she sends him helps ground him just a little bit.

He can’t help but notice Betty’s absence. She’d sworn up and down the day before that she would be there; he wonders if maybe she bailed out after all, maybe she finally gave up being his friend.

“All rise. The Court of Districts is now in session, the Honorable Judge Praisewater presiding."

Archie watches as an older man with white hair and glasses walks in and sits behind the bench; he feels his throat close up as the Bailiff continues to speak.

“Docket number 6827. The case of the murder of Shadowlake resident Cassidy Bullock. The court calls Archibald Andrews to the stand.”

He pulls at his tie again, scrambling to up. Archie mumbles his way through the swearing-in process, states once again that he’s not guilty, and he can feel all the members of the jury staring at him; it only makes him more anxious. The next thing he knows, Hiram’s Lawyer, Franklin Shaw is pacing in front of him, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Mr. Andrews can you tell me where you were the weekend of March ninth?” Shaw asks.

“I was in Shadowlake, at the Lodge family’s cabin with some of my friends.”

“Uh huh, and what exactly is your relation to the Lodge family?”

“I work- worked for Hiram Lodge, and I’m dating his daughter, Veronica.”

Archie spares a glance, meeting Veronica’s eye again; She nods at him at him, winks a little.

“And you were already working for Mr. Lodge when you spent the weekend at the cabin, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“If you wouldn’t mind- in your own words, tell the jury about the break-in that occurred the night of March tenth.”

Archie feels a knot form in the bottom of his stomach as memories from that night come rushing back to him.

***

_Everyone is arguing. Snide, underhanded comments being tossed around like it’s nothing. The night wasn’t supposed to go like this, they were supposed to just hang out and relax for once, but of course, a fight had to start._

_Veronica just barely gets done making another dig at Jughead and Betty when the sound of glass shattering fills the room._

_“Where did that come from?” Jughead asks quickly._

_“Who else knows we’re here?”_

_Betty snaps, “Why did you say it like that-.”_

_Suddenly, three men in black masks are barging their way into the room, one wielding a bat and another one an ax. Betty and Veronica grab onto their boyfriends’ arms, hiding behind them._

_“You rich summer folks never learn!” Says one of the masked men._

_“Just keep walking around town, flashing more cash than we see in a year.”_

_“We’re gonna take what we want, and then we’re gonna go.”_

_“Fine,” Archie says with a dry mouth. “Take what you want, and we won’t give you any trouble.”_

_He hasn’t been this panicked in months; he feels as though his heart is going to beat itself right out of his body._

_The first guy speaks again, looking right at Veronica._

_“Where’s your purse?”_

_She sputters, “Um, it’s- in my bedroom.”_

_“Well, let’s go to the bedroom.”_

_“No. No way are you going up there with her alone.” Archie states. “I’ll go.”_

_“Archie. It’s fine, I’ll be fine. We’ll be right back. Everybody just needs to stay calm.”_

_He watches Veronica walk away with the masked man and Archie feels like he’s going to be sick to his stomach. With each second that passes his worry only increases. It doesn’t help the other two masked men are just standing there, staring him down as to make sure he doesn’t move or try to attack them._

_A minute later, Veronica and the guy come walking out of the bedroom; she grabs onto Archie’s hand almost instantly._

_The other two masked men start asking if they can leave yet and the other, obviously the leader of the group, shuts them down._

_“You got what you wanted.” Archie spits out._

_“Not yet. Why don’t y’all get down on your knees? ...I said on your knees. Hands behind your backs…_ do it!”

_Both of the girls jump out of fear. Veronica moves first, then Betty, and then Jughead. Archie can’t bring himself to do it; it reminds him too much of the morning that his dad was shot, how he’d been forced to drop to his knees and put his hands up despite not wanting to, despite being so goddamn afraid._

_Archie doesn’t lose his gaze with the guy holding the bat as he finally moves to the floor, his shoulders tight in a painful way._

_“Nice cabin,” the guy says. “Sorry we’re going to have to make such a mess of it.”_

_He’s half a second from smashing the coffee table when the phone begins blare an alarm, shrill and obnoxious._

_“What the hell is that?”_

_“That would be the security company,” Veronica says proudly. “Calling to check on the silent alarm I hit in my bedroom. I say you hill billys have about thirty seconds to run for it before this place is swarming with guards who will shoot first and ask questions never.”_

_The other two run, but the one with the bat stays back, getting in Veronica’s face._

_“Screw you, rich bitch.” He says, ripping off her locket._

_That’s the final straw. Archie can’t stop himself from chasing after the masked guy as he runs off, ignores his friends’ pleas for him to stay behind. The woods are ridiculously dark, but he keeps running. He’s just barely able to make out the shadow of the guy running away, the glint of Veronica’s locket still in his hand._

_After a few minutes, Archie catches up and tackles the guy, taking them both to the ground. They wrestle for a minute until Archie rips the guys mask off. He’s so close to nailing the guy in the face when Andre comes walking out of the woods._

_“Andre- there was some other guys with him. Did you see em’?”_

_“Go back to the cabin, I’ll take it from here.”_

_Archie feels weary all of the sudden,_

_“What are you gonna do?”_

_“I said, I’ll take care of it.”_

_Archie gets up, spares half a glance in his direction before running off towards the house. He’s not even a hundred feet away when he hears the unmistakable pop of a gun going off behind him._

_He halts, breathing heavily. Looking back, he can only imagine what he’d see if he ran back there now, he’s too afraid to find out. So he turns back around, back towards the house, back to where his friends are all waiting for him._

***

“That’s it? That’s the whole story?” Shaw asks. 

“Yeah, that’s everything.”

“And Mr. Bullock, he was the one who ripped off Veronica’s locket before you chased after him, is that correct?”

Archie nods. “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”

“So you’re implying that Andre, the Lodge’s _doorman_ , was the one who killed Cassidy Bullock? Can he attest to that?”

“Objection, Your Honor,” Sierra says, standing up. “That’s argumentative.”

“Withdrawn,” Shaw states, his gaze still locked on Archie.

 _Andre died the night of the riot,_ Archie thinks to himself _, why the hell would he ask me something like that? Doesn’t he know?_

“Tell me, have you ever owned a gun, Mr. Andrews?”

He feels like he could swallow his own tongue. Archie wasn’t expecting a question like that. He sputters for a moment, wondering if she should actually admit to this. He looks to Veronica again for reassurance; she nods at him again.

“…Yes.” He says shamefully. Archie looks over at his Dad, not missing the way the surprised and disappointed look on his face.

“Did you have the gun with you when you were at the cabin?”

“No.”

Shaw gestures to the evidence table next to his left. All that’s there are a few files, some photos, and a laptop that he’s never seen before.

“Son, can you tell me what’s missing from this table?”

Archie shrugs.

“The gun that was used to kill Cassidy Bullock, no one can seem to find it.”

“Okay…”

“Care to tell the jury where you hid it?”

“I didn’t- I don’t have it.”

“You know it’s a federal offense to lie in a court of law.”

“Objection-.”

Shaw cuts her off, “No further questions, your honor.”

He sits down, and Hiram pats Shaw’s shoulder; Archie clenches his hands into fists as tight as he can.

It’s Sierra’s turn to interrogate him. She smooths down her dress before she approaches the stand, gives Archie a warm smile.

“Hi, Archie.”

“Hi, Mrs. McCoy.”

“You said that you owned a gun, I take it this was said in past tense, correct?”

“Objection,” Shaw cuts in, “That’s an assumption.”

“I’ll allow it,” Judge Praisewater says. “Mrs. McCoy, please continue; Archie you can answer the question.”

Sierra nods, encouraging him to continue.

“Yes, it was past tense. I don’t have the gun anymore.”

“When exactly was it in your possession?”

“The end of October, for about two weeks.”

“And where is the gun now?”

“At the bottom of Sweetwater River, ma’am.”

“Can you tell me what kind of gun was used in the murder of Mr. Bullock, Archie?”

“No.”

“And why not?”

He leans forward in his seat, elbows resting on his knees.

“Because I never touched it,” Archie says. It’s the surest thing that’s come out of his mouth since he woke up this morning.

“No further questions, Your Honor,” Sierra says with a smile.

He sighs a breath of relief, feeling a little bit better about the situation. The judge directs him to go back to his seat. He’s sitting there with his hands clasped in front of him, waiting for something to happen. Archie looks over to where Hiram is sitting; Hiram is whispering something into Shaw’s ear.

Shaw gets to his feet a few seconds later, and Archie can’t even believe what he’s hearing.

“Your honor, we’d like to call Veronica Lodge to the witness stand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I was gonna wait and keep all the courtroom scenes until the last chapter but it was getting ridiculously long and I wasn't even done with it yet so, yeah. The next, and final, chapter should be up on Wednesday! Lemme me know what you think so far?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This couldn’t possibly be going worse,” They say.
> 
> “Well, it’s like you said, pray for a miracle.”
> 
> Sailor looks over at her for a second, then looks back towards the witness stand. A second later, they shoot out of their seat, speaking up just as the Judge is about to call for a Recess.
> 
> “Your honor I have something to say!”
> 
> Veronica tugs on their arm, whisper shouting, “What the hell are you doing?”
> 
> “Trying to help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter! I still don't know how court works.

For a second, she thinks she’s heard him wrong. Her father’s lawyer can’t possibly be talking about her. Then, nearly everyone in the court cranes their necks around to look at her, and she isn’t sure what to do. It’s not until Sailor squeezes her arm that Veronica realizes she needs to get up.

She tries to catch her mother’s eye across the room, but Hermione looks away from her; it’s like she’s finally ashamed of what’s happening.

She stands up finally, wiping her clammy hands on the end of her black skirt. The Bailiff opens the gate and leads her over to witness stand; as she passes by Archie he gives her a deer in headlights look, his expression saying _what the hell is going on_. Veronica makes the same face back at him, still confused as to what is happening. She grows tense as her father’s Lawyer approaches the stand.

“Miss Lodge, is it plausible for one to think that you may have assisted Mr. Andrews in helping murder Cassidy Bullock?”

_“Excuse me?”_

“Think about it, Cassidy Bullock rips off your necklace before he runs for it, and in a lapse of anger, you sic your equally angry boyfriend on him and he takes things a little too far. Does that sound right to you?”

“Objection!” Sierra yells.

“Withdrawn.” Shaw fires back, rolling his eyes.

Veronica crosses her arms over her chest, sneering at him.

“You know, I’ve met a fair share of my father’s friends over the years,” She says. “But I’d never heard of you until a few days ago, so you must be new. I can’t imagine how much he had to bribe you into fighting his battle for him.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she watches her father shift in his seat, looking unsettled by the comment she made.

“Let’s get back to the topic at hand, Miss Lodge. Has Archie ever been violent with you?”

“Never.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“You see, I find that quite surprising.” He says, walking over to the evidence table.

Shaw picks up the laptop, and Veronica feels her skin begin to tingle. He opens it in front of her, playing the video that has already been queued up.

It’s the video Archie made from when he first formed the Red Circle, the absolutely cringe-worthy speech with more than a dozen teenage boys around him. She’s almost surprised that this wasn’t brought up sooner.

“Can you tell the court what this is, Veronica?”

She swallows the lump in her throat. “It’s a video… of Archie making a public message to the man who shot his father, the Black Hood.”

Shaw plays the video in front of her, then plays it again for the jury- as if once wasn’t already bad enough. She’s able to tune it out until the very last line.

_“… We’re coming for you. We will find you. We will hunt you. And we will end you.”_

Veronica rubs at her temple, feeling uncomfortable. She looks over at Judge Praisewater, wondering if he’s going to step in at any point and shut him up.

“That doesn’t sound much to me like a non-violent person, now does it?”

“For the last time, he’s not like that. Archie’s father had just been shot in front of him and he wanted to hold someone accountable. Anyone in his position would have reacted in the same way. He was looking for answers, for just a sliver of peace. Is that so hard to comprehend?”

“Really? Anyone?” Shaw says, his tone accusatory.

“Yes, anyone.”

“Funny, you should mention that,” He walks back over to his table, picking up one of his papers. “Your father told me about a rather heated conversation that the two of you had a few weeks back. One where you said, and I quote, ‘I wont stop until all your dirty laundry is exposed.’ Tell me, Miss Lodge, was that a promise or a threat?”

Veronica doesn’t even flinch.

_“Both.”_

Shaw gives her the smuggest grin that she’s ever seen, then says he doesn’t have any more questions. Veronica is lead back to her seat after Sierra shakes her head when asked if she has anything to make her argument with.  

It’s Hiram’s turn to testify, and Veronica has been dreading this all day; she’s mortified of what her father is going to say, of the lies he’d tell just to get Archie put away.

“Mr. Lodge, in your own words, when did you learn of Cassidy Bullock’s murder?”

“March eleventh, the morning after it happened.”

“And how exactly did you receive this information?”

“From our now late doorman, Andre. May he rest in peace.”

“Why is it that you didn’t come forward about the murder sooner? Why wait to call the police and tell them what happened?”

“I was afraid,” Hiram says. “I knew that Archie had acted irrationally in the past, and I was worried that if I came forward with the truth that he might come after me or my family in retaliation.”

“What made you decide to come forward now after so much time had passed?”

“About a month ago, shortly after the riots, the night my wife Hermione was elected Mayor, Archie let himself into my house and threatened me with a knife.”

Veronica looks over to where Archie is, watches as he stiffens up in his seat. She didn’t know about that, wonders aimlessly why her father never said anything about it.

“I tried to reason with him, but he wouldn’t hear it. It was shortly after that that I made a phone call to Sheriff Minetta and informed him of the details.”

“Was there a specific reason you didn’t tell anyone else?”

Hiram shrugs, “From the moment my family and I moved to Riverdale, I’d only ever heard good things about Archie Andrews. Then this happened… honestly, I wasn’t sure that anyone would believe me.”

Veronica has to refrain from rolling her eyes; that might just be the most ridiculous and out of character thing that she’s ever heard him say. She can’t believe that things are actually playing out this way, her father might actually win this case, and there wasn’t even anything substantial to begin with. As Hiram’s being lead back to his seat, Sailor leans over and whispers into Veronica’s ear.

“This couldn’t possibly be going worse,” They say.

“Well, it’s like you said, pray for a miracle.”

Sailor looks over at her for a second, then looks back towards the witness stand. A second later, they shoot out of their seat, speaking up just as the Judge is about to call for a Recess.

“Your honor I have something to say!”

Veronica tugs on their arm, whisper shouting, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Trying to help.”

“Excuse me, but what is your name?” Judge Praisewater asks.

“My name is S- Emily Sumner. Last week, Archie Andrews wrote me a letter, and I think the jury needs to hear it.”

Praisewater contemplates it for a moment before he nods, makes a _go-ahead_ motion with his fingers.

“I don’t see why not; carry on, if you please.”

Sailor moves towards the gate, angling their body towards the jury. They look at Archie for a split second just before they start; Veronica is anxious to hear what the letter says, hopes that it helps the situation more than it hurts.

_Dear Sailor,_

_I know that we’ve never talked before, but Veronica has told me enough about you that I can already tell that you’re gonna fit right in with our circle of friends._

_I wanted to apologize. I’m guessing that you’ve already heard, but I’m probably going off to jail soon… for a while. None of my friends will say it out loud, but I can tell that they’re scared about this whole thing. If this plays out the way that I think it will, then these guys are gonna need someone to look out for them, to help them get through this. Our friends are going to need you, Sailor. So, here’s some things that you need to know._

_Betty likes to put on a brave face even when things aren’t going well, especially then, actually. She’s the type of person who wants to make sure that everyone else is getting taken care of, and sometimes she forgets to focus on herself. It sounds dumb, but I’ve found that a strawberry milkshake tends to cheer up, even if only by a little bit. If that doesn’t work then just sit and talk with her, sometimes she just needs somebody who’s gonna listen. Betty might just be the greatest friend that I’ve ever had- but don’t tell Jughead that, you wouldn’t wanna hurt his ego._

_Speaking of Jughead, I know that he’s an ass sometimes, but he means well. He’s come to my defense more times than I can count, even when I didn’t deserve it, I can’t thank him enough for that. He’s gonna try and act like this isn’t bothering him; being the tough guy has become his new thing, but don’t be afraid to knock him down a peg. If he doesn’t deal with his emotions then I think he might actually combust one day. Hug him every once and a while, he’ll act like he hates it, but he doesn’t, he just doesn’t know where to put his hands._

_And Ronnie, well, I could go on forever about her. I didn’t know that I needed someone like her in my life until she quite literally walked into it. Veronica is the kind of girl that everybody wants to fall in love with- and take it from someone who has, it’s great. This last year has been messy in more ways than one, and I really don’t think that I would have gotten through it without her. I don’t want to sound conceited, but she’s going to miss me; I know because it’s only been a month and I already miss her more than I can fathom._

_I’m sorry for leaving you with this mess, I hate to think that you’re going to have to clean up after me… if that makes any sense. My friends are the best people in my life, and I just wanna make sure that they’re gonna be okay even if I’m not around. Take care of them for me, alright? I know the task sounds daunting, but you’re gonna be great. Besides, you’re already one of us, Sailor._

_See you on the other side._

_Sincerely, Archie Andrews._

Sailor looks up once they’ve finished, facing the jury, their face teetering the edge of distraught.  

“I’ve been carrying this letter around in my back pocket for the last week, because I think that it proves that there’s still good in the world. He felt so inclined to write a letter to someone he had never met before because he wanted to make sure that his friends would be taken care of if something happened to him.

“ _That guy_ , Archie Andrews, he’s the kind of guy who looks out for other people, the guy who always wants to help. There’s nothing that anyone could say that would make me believe that he killed a guy over some necklace, that’s not who he is. It’s not what he stands for.”

Sailor sits down without another word, and the room stays silent.

Judge Praisewater shuffles some of his papers around, then looks up and addresses the Jury.

“I think it’s due time that we took a recess and allow the jury to discuss and contemplate the information that they’ve been given. We’ll meet back here once they’ve come to an agreement.” 

The jury leaves, then both Hiram and Archie are lead out of the room, and for a minute Veronica can’t move, too caught in everything rattling around inside her head. It's not until Sailor shakes her arm that she realizes they had been talking to her.

“Sorry, what?”

“I said we gotta go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Go follow Archie, see if we can talk to him for a minute, C’mon.”

The two of them get up, managing to find the hallway that leads to the private room where Archie is. Veronica stops two feet short of the door upon hearing a mans voice come from inside. She can’t understand what’s being said, but from all the yelling she can’t imagine that it’s good. There’s silence for a minute, then the door flies open, startling Veronica and Sailor as Fred comes walking out. He has an apologetic look on his face.

“Veronica. Sailor.” He says tightly.

Veronica watches him leave, wondering if she should say something. She decides against it and pushes the door open.

Archie is leaning against the table, staring at his feet when she comes in. He looks up at her, then hides his face in her hair after she wraps her arms around his waist.

“Are you okay?” She asks.

“Could be worse. I’m just glad that you’re here.” He pulls away looking her in the eye. “What was your dad thinking having you called to the witness stand like that?”

“I don’t know, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to get rid of me, too.”

“Speaking of which, where the hell is Betty? I thought she was gonna be here.”

“She texted me this morning,” Sailor chimes in. “Said that she had to go talk to Jughead about something beforehand, I can call her, if you want.”

Archie nods, and Sailor makes themself scarce; Veronica rubs her hand down Archie’s arm, contemplating whether or not she really wants to bring up what her dad said earlier. It’s been eating at her ever since her dad mentioned it.

“Was it true? What my dad said about the knife… did you actually do that?”

“Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“We talking in his office, and, yes, I did technically let myself in, but I never threatened him with the knife, Veronica. I just- stuck it into his desk, I swear.”

“Okay, I believe you.” She says softly, moving her hand through his hair.

She’s really trying to trust him right now, he was just trying to stand up for himself. At same time, what if she had been there, what if her mom had been there- shit, her mom. They haven’t talked in over a week, she needs to go find her before court ends.

“I just remembered, I have to go talk to my mom about something, will you be okay for a minute by yourself?”

“Yeah, I’ll be good, don’t worry.”

She pecks him on the lips before leaving. Luckily for her, Hermione isn’t too far off, Veronica nearly bumps into her as she rounds the corner.

“Oh- hey, Mom. I was actually looking for you.”

“Really? Why? Have you decided to poke the ember’s some more?”

Veronica rolls her eyes, “No, Mom, I didn’t come here to fight with you, I wanted to talk. We need to figure something out on the off chance that this doesn’t go the way you think it will.”

“In what sense? In case Archie gets sent to a penitentiary out of county? We’re not moving, Ronnie.”

“No, Mom, I mean if Dad loses.”

Hermione’s face falls; she looks down at the floor, failing to cover up her nerves.

“You know that this isn’t going to go the way he wants it to. He’s not going to win, he can’t.”

“Well,” Hermione says, “What did you have in mind?”

***

It takes the jury forty-five minutes to come back with a ruling. Nobody will say it, but they’re all terrified; if Archie went away to prison, Riverdale would lose it’s light, he’s a partof what makes the town so great.

Veronica makes sure to kiss Archie with intent before she has to go back to her seat, says that she loves him more times than she’s been able to since they got into this mess in the first place. She can’t ignore this anymore, she has to face facts that this could go as badly as everyone is saying it will. She’s barely been able to keep it together with him being in Juvie for the last month, Veronica can’t even begin to imagine what she’d do if he was gone for good.  

Sailor and Fred are already there when she gets back to her seat. Veronica sits between them, placing a hand on each of their arms, needing to feel grounded.

The jury walks in, then Judge Praisewater, and the whole court gets to their feet; there’s a nervous pit in Veronica’s stomach that’s growing by the second.

 _Please,_ she thinks to herself, _please be good to him._

The head juror stands up, clears his throat and-

The wooden doors to the courtroom fly open, catching everyone’s attention. A blonde ponytail rushes past, and Veronica knows immediately what’s going on.

“Your Honor, I have somethings you need to see regarding this case!” Betty yells.

“Young lady you can’t just barge in here,” Shaw spits at her. “They’re about to-.”

“I’ll allow it.” Judge Praisewater says, holding a hand up. “Bring it forward, Miss.”

Betty walks beyond the gate, pulling a mess of papers out of her bag. The whole crowd is enraptured as they watch Betty speaking quietly with the judge. A few minutes later, Judge Praisewater stands up, still holding the papers with a curious face.

“Mr. Andrews,” He says. “Do you know anyone by the name of Elliot Yates?”

Archie stammers, standing up. “Uh- there was a kid in Juvie with that last name, but everybody called him Keno. He was the one who stabbed me a few days ago.”

“Uh huh, and when this happened- did you react at all or fight back in any way?”

He shakes his head. “No, sir.”

“And why not?”

Archie shrugs, “Too stunned, I guess.”

“I see… Mr. Lodge, I have a visitors log here from Riverdale Juvenile Detention Center that says you came to visit Mr. Yates just three days before Mr. Andrews was injured. As well as a note from him detailing the conversation that the two of you had. One where you said: _‘I don’t care what you do, just get rid of him.”_

“Well-.” Hiram tries.

“On top of that, I have here an M.E. file from the autopsy that was done on a mobster who went by Papa Poutine. The bullet that was retracted from his skull also matched the bullet that was pulled from Cassidy Bullock’s forehead. A gun that you issued to your late doorman, Andre. Is it wrong for one to assume that you were behind all of this?”

“Your honor, I-.”

Judge Praisewater holds his hand up once again, a stern, practically pissed off look on his face.

“Hiram Lodge I hereby sentence you to Greendale Penitentiary for an eight-year sentence for the Murder of Cassidy Bullock, with an additional four years for the attempted murder of Archie Andrews. Bail is set at one hundred thousand dollars.”

A series of gasps move through the crowd; Betty turns around meeting Veronica’s eye, a shit-eating grin growing on her face.

_She did it. Betty actually did it. She proved that Archie didn’t do it._

“As for Mr. Andrews,” Judge Praisewater continues, “A thousand dollar fine for owning a gun under the legal age, and he will finish out the week at Riverdale Juvenile Detention Center before returning home for good.”   

The gavel slams down onto the wood, and the next thing Veronica knows her father is being put in handcuffs, all but dragged out of the courtroom by the bailiff. She doesn’t know whether to be happy or sad about it this time around. Veronica looks away when her father is being lead past, she doesn’t want to see how angry he undoubtedly is.

She sets her sights on Archie, watching as he braces himself against the table, his shoulders shaking when Sierra lays her hand between his shoulder blades. Veronica looks over at Fred who looks as shocked as she’s ever seen him.

“Go,” She tells him. “He’s gonna want to hug you first.”

Fred barely spares her half a glance before he’s rushing to the front of the court room, moving past the gate and the guards, pulling Archie in for a tight hug.

Betty is standing off to side with her phone pressed to her ear, no doubt talking to one of the employees for The Register, already discussing tomorrows headline; Veronica feels her heart swell with joy.

“You know this isn’t gonna stick, right, doll face?” Sailor says quietly. “I’m not saying that just to make you feel bad, I’m saying that because I think you need to be prepared, you and your mom. I mean with a guy like your dad, someone with that kind of power- with the ability to do all this and just barely get away with it-.”  

“Don’t worry, we already have a plan.” She tells them, sure as can be. “My Mom and I are going to move in with the Coopers for a while until we can get things figured out, but we’re cutting all ties him with. We’re done with my dad for good.”

Sailor nudges her arm, smiling a little.

“That’s what I like to hear, I’m happy for guys; I can’t imagine that being around a guy like him would have a very good effect on a person.”

She nods a little, thinking of something else.

“I know that this is way late and massively overdue, but I’m sorry about what I said at lunch, I shouldn’t have been so mean to you that day. You’ve done nothing but help clear Archie’s name and I had absolutely no right to yell at you like that.”

 “Eh, you weren’t wrong, it would do me some good to lose the sarcastic act every once and a while. But, thank you, really- I’m just glad that I could help.”

“As am I. So, where does this leave us now? Minor Frenemies or just lunch acquaintances?”

Sailor laughs a little, tossing their head back before looking over at her and sticking their hand out.

“I’m good with being friends if you are.”

“Friends it is,” Veronica says, her grip firm. “C’mon, let’s go hug Archie before we miss our chance.”

***

Archie and Jughead get released from Juvie on the same day and half the town shows up to greet them. Everyone whoops and cheers when the step out of the gate; it’s like something out of an early 2000’s teen drama. Both of the boys go to their girlfriends first, kissing them with intent and not caring that dozens of people are watching.

After a minute, Archie breaks away and goes straight for his dad. The hug they share is almost as good as the one they had after Archie was told he wasn’t going away to jail; it had taken him nearly an hour to stop crying, just knowing that he was going to get to go home was enough to bring him to his knees.  

He claps his dad on the back once he’s ready to let go; Fred places his hands on either side of Archie’s face, giving him an almost sad smile.

“I’m sorry.”

Archie cocks his head to the side, “For what?”

“For doubting you,” He says. “I should have never lost my faith in you. I know that you’re not a killer.”

“It’s okay… you’re not the only one out of us who nearly gave up.”

Fred nods, squeezing his shoulders.

“C’mon, let’s go home.”

There’s another crowd waiting for them at the Andrews house, northside and serpents alike. It’s a little weird for Archie having all these people in his house, congratulating him; they’re all treating him like he’s the prodigal son or something- then again, maybe he is.

People begin to leave him alone after a while, and he eases into the feel of the party. His friends catch him up on all the things he missed at school; Archie laughs out loud when he hears about Cheryl’s **#FreeArchie** twitter movement. It’s a relief to know that people were rooting for him.

He and Veronica are sharing both a section of the couch and a bowl of popcorn, talking with Sailor when Betty and Jughead come and sits down across from them,  

“Hey, where have you guys been?”

“I was introducing Betty to my mom,” Jughead replies.

“I thought you said she would’ve been back in Toledo by now.”

“Yeah, I thought so, too. I think she was trying to make sure that my dad didn’t drink himself to death while I was gone. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter now- she’s leaving tomorrow anyway.”  

“Are you going with?”

“And miss Archie’s first day as a free man in over a month? _Fat chance_.”

Archie smiles widely at him.

“Speaking of Mom’s,” Betty chimes in. “I talked to mine this morning and she seems to be doing really well. It looks like she’s going to be able to come home by the end of the month.”

There are cheers all around from the group, excitement spreading on their faces.

“That’s great news, B.”  

“Thanks, Veronica. You know I don’t really think I would have been able to get through all of this if you hadn’t been with me at the house, I can’t thank you enough for that.”

“You’re letting my Mom and I move in, that’s thanks enough, believe me. Besides, Sailor deserves thanks more than I do- none of this would have played out the way it did without them.”

Sailor scoffs quietly from their spot on the loveseat, their legs hanging off the arm of the chair.

“I don’t know about that- all I did was show up. I wouldn’t exactly call that helping.”

“Aw, c’mon that’s not true,” Archie says. “If Judge Praisewater hadn’t taken over when he did, I think that you reading my letter would have made a big difference with the jury, I really mean that. You’re a hero just as much as anyone else here is, so thank you, seriously.”

Sailor ducks their head, trying to hide the blush crawling across their face.

“Thanks, Archie- but seriously, if I ever see blood coming out of you like that again then we’re gonna have some serious issues.”

The group laughs again, and Archie knows that this is exactly where he’s supposed to be. His house, his friends, it’s like he never left. This is hands down the best day that he’s had in months.

He does, by all means, know how remarkably lucky he is. Archie knows that until a few days ago his chances of seeing the outside of jail cell within the next five years were slim to none. It is in some sense a miracle in itself that he’s even here. He hadn’t expected things to turn out like this, but _god_ he’s so glad that they did.

Archie looks around at his friends, takes in the smiles on all of their faces, grateful that he gets to witness them in person in the first place.

His dad comes into the room, asks for everyone’s attention.

“I just wanted to say a quick something, if you all don’t mind. I know that all of us are very glad to have Archie and Jughead home again; lord knows what this town would’ve done without them around.”

A few people laugh; Archie nudges Jughead’s arm, and Fred continues.

“No, but I seriously I mean that. The two of you are the glue that brought everyone together when Riverdale was falling apart. In the midst of our own little war, you two were the ones who kept a level head and tried to bring us a back to a place of peace. You’re a part of the heart and soul of this town, things wouldn’t be the same if you weren’t here. So, everyone, if you’ll join me in toasting Archie and Jughead, two of Riverdale’s fiercest protectors.”

Everyone around raises their glasses, knocking cups with the people surrounding them, a few muttered ‘cheers’ going around. Archie doesn’t have to guess to know that his dad, his friends, everyone- they’re all thinking the same thing:

The kings of the county have come home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a minute I didn't think that I'd be able to finish writing this fic, but I'm very glad that I did. Thanks to everyone who commented and left a kudos, y'all mean the world to me. Thanks again for reading, and have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for checking out my fic! I have the first few chapters written up already (there's probably gonna be about seven) so I'll try to post a new one every few days or so! Please let me know what you thought of it! Comments/Kudos are encouraged. You can find me on tumblr as archieandrewsprotectionsquad if you wanna talk riverdale. Thanks again for reading, and have a great day!


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